Barcelona’s injury crisis deepened on Wednesday evening as Robert Lewandowski hobbled of the Estadio do Dragao pitch during the clash with Porto in the Champions League.
The Barcelona forward was substituted after 34 minutes with an ankle injury, adding his name to a growing list of absentees in Catalonia. The likes of Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Raphinha are all fitness doubts at present, with Xavi casting a nervous eye to El Clasico in a few weeks’ time.
Lewandowski’s replacement Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in a 1-0 victory in midweek, but there is no like-for-like replacement for the former Bayern Munich record-breaker. The Pole already has eight goals for club and country this campaign, but could now be set for a spell on the sidelines.
𝙇𝘼𝙏𝙀𝙎𝙏 𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 | Tests carried out this morning have revealed that Robert Lewandowski has a left ankle sprain. He is out and his recovery will determine his availability. pic.twitter.com/DelL9d8V4F
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 5, 2023
While Barcelona were initially optimistic about the extent of Lewandowski’s ankle injury, there are now growing fears that the 35-year-old will be missing for several games. Reports suggest that the forward could be sidelined for three to four weeks, meaning he will miss the international break with Poland and some potentially pivotal matches for Barcelona before and after.
Lewandowski will be a huge miss for Barcelona as the striker is one of those that has proven irreplaceable for the club in the past. He’s unsurprisingly the team’s top scorer this season, while also sitting second in Barcelona’s assist leaderboard.
Lewandowski is guaranteed to miss Barcelona’s weekend trip to Granada, although that is probably one of the few La Liga fixtures they could afford to rest their star striker for given Granada sit 19th.
While the international break offers Lewandowski some time to recover, he is still doubtful for the return of Spanish and European football in late October. Athletic Club and Shakhtar Donetsk are Barcelona’s first two tests when they reconvene after the international period, while the real concern is that Lewandowski may be absent for the Clasico on 28 October.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are currently the top two teams in La Liga and Lewandowski’s absence would be sorely felt by the Catalans, despite having home advantage for the visit of their bitter rivals.
If four weeks is a reliable timeframe, then Lewandowski could also miss the clash with high-flying Real Sociedad in the league and the return fixture against Shakhtar in Europe three days later.
Games Lewandowski could miss for Barcelona
Date / time (BST) |
Fixture |
---|---|
08/10/23 – 20:00 |
Granada vs Barcelona |
22/10/23 – 20:00 |
Barcelona vs Athletic Club |
25/10/23 – 17:45 |
Barcelona vs Shakhtar Donetsk |
28/10/23 – 15:15 |
Barcelona vs Real Madrid |
04/11/23 – 21:00 |
Real Sociedad vs Barcelona |
07/11/23 – 18:45 |
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Barcelona |
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