FC Barcelona has suffered a major injury blow after their first-choice left back Alejandro Balde was taken down by Mallorca at Camp Nou on Sunday. The La Masia academy graduate, who has been one of the season’s breakout stars after making his debut under Ronald Koeman last season, was filling in at right back.
This allowed Jordi Alba, the veteran he has pushed out of the starting lineup, to start what will be his final home game in Blaugrana after announcing his departure in the coming weeks on Wednesday.
Furthermore, it paved the way for Jules Kounde to play as a centre-back, amid rumours that the Frenchman has informed the club that he is open to offers from outside the club after only a year in Catalonia.
Kounde has since denied the veracity of Relevo’s Toni Juanmarti’s report, and was not forced to return to right back around the quarter-hour mark as Barcelona led their visitors 1-0.
On 14 minutes, however, a stand-in was required because Balde was knocked down by an outrageous challenge from Amath Ndiaye close to the knee. Ndiaye was initially given a yellow card, but this was upgraded to a red after the referee saw a replay of the incident.
Balde was replaced by Sergi Roberto after another three minutes. According to AS journalist Javier Miguel, “initial investigations point to torn right ankle ligaments,” and the adolescent will be out for at least 10 weeks.
The club’s official Twitter page revealed that Balde “has a partial tear of the lateral collateral ligament of the right ankle” as Barcelona kicked off the second instalment of the match 2-0 up. “He will be out approximately between 6 and 7 weeks,” the club added.
Alba is about to ride off into the sunset, possibly to the Middle East or the MLS, leaving Barcelona short-handed in his and Balde’s shared position.
Balde should be ready for La Liga when it resumes in August, but he may miss key preparations for 2023/2024, which include a tour of the United States to play friendly matches against fellow European giants.
Marcos Alonso will almost certainly cover for the Spain international, but any setbacks for the 32-year-old would cause head coach Xavi Hernandez a major headache.
