Doubts linger over the status of Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres while there are even more serious concerns surrounding the availability of Barcelona’s star striker Robert Lewandowski.
The experienced forward’s involvement over the final stretch of last season was limited by a hamstring complaint. In a concerning development, Barcelona confirmed that it is an injury to the same muscle which will stop Lewandowski from featuring against Como for the Joan Gamper Trophy this weekend.
A brief statement from the club on Friday read: “The first team player Robert Lewandowski has a hamstring problem in his left thigh. The striker is unavailable for Sunday’s game and his recovery will determine his return.”
Lewandowski first damaged this area in April, forcing him to miss the Copa del Rey final and the first leg of the Champions League semifinal against Inter. The Pole was brought on for the closing stages of the return fixture at San Siro as Barcelona led on aggregate only for his cameo to be elongated to a draining half-hour as Inter forced stoppage time with a 93rd-minute equalizer. Lewandowski was not used in the decisive Clásico against Real Madrid 11 days later.
Few players on the planet pride themselves on maintaining their fitness to the same extent as Lewandowski. The veteran forward may turn 37 later this month yet has shown few signs of slowing down when available—which is more often than not. On top of being last season’s leading scorer, Lewandowski also made 52 appearances across all competitions, a tally only five of his teammates could top.
The severity of this recurring injury remains to be seen. SPORT do not provide a recovery timeframe and instead point out that “doubts” exist over the fitness of Olmo and Torres, Hansi Flick’s go-to replacements for Lewandowski.
Olmo did not participate in Barcelona’s most recent training session, although this is thought to have been a precautionary measure. The Spain international missed 20 games with three different muscular complaints last term and has understandably had his minutes managed.
Torres also missed Friday morning’s session with what the report described as a “muscle strain”.
Flick can comfortably turn to Marcus Rashford as a central option for the return of Cesc Fàbregas to Catalonia on Friday, but matters are complicated when it comes to La Liga. Neither Rashford nor the rest of Barcelona’s new recruits are currently registered to play in the club’s first league fixture of the season against Mallorca on Saturday, Aug. 16. This process has been delayed even further by an administrative error from the entity auditing the club’s finances.
READ THE LATEST BARCELONA NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Barcelona Rocked by Robert Lewandowski Injury Blow, Two Replacements Also ‘Doubts’.
