Barcelona went into the season with their strongest depth in central defence for several years and it looks as if they are going to need it.
On Thursday night Jules Kounde came off injured for France in their win over Austria with a thigh problem. A slight muscle tear is expected to keep him out of action for 4-5 weeks, which will see him miss a crucial month of fixtures including El Clasico.
However Ronald Araujo’s injury, picked up after less than a minute against Iran for Uruguay, is worse than initially thought. That is according to Javi Miguel of Diario AS. Initially it had been thought that he could return in a matter of two weeks. Now it appears the club are considering surgery for Araujo and his time out is estimated at 6-7 weeks.
It will likely keep Araujo out for the remaining Barcelona matches this year, as the World Cup preparations begin in early November. The burden will fall on Eric Garcia, Andreas Christensen and Gerard Pique to fill the void.
