Barcelona now six men down after De Jong, Pedri injured on Sunday

The reigning La Liga champions Barcelona have found themselves in a bind after losing two key players, Frenkie de Jong and Pedri, in Sunday's 0-0 draw with Athletic Bilbao at San Mames in Bilbao, Spain.

Both exited the game in the first half. De Jong landed awkwardly on his ankle in the 26th minute and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher. Pedri suffered a muscle injury before the halftime break. He was out for two months due to a hamstring problem in August 2023 and then rested three weeks at the end of last year with another muscle issue.

Xavi Hernandez, manager of Barca, said the situation did not look good for either man, even before they underwent scans on Monday.

"The injuries affected the team because Frenkie and Pedri are two important players for how we want to play," Xavi said at the press conference after the game. "Pedri's been coming good again [after his last injury], he trained really well this week. It's such a shame. Frenkie, too. He is heavily involved in our play. They are two big losses."

"It doesn't look good. We missed them today, and we are going to miss them. Hopefully, it's for less time than expected," Xavi added.

Since the La Liga leaders Real Madrid were held 2-2 by Valencia, and Girona, in second place, lost to RCD Mallorca 1-0 last week, Barca don't have to worry about being left further behind in the title race. Nonetheless, they are still eight points behind Real with only 11 games left.

"It was a big opportunity wasted," Xavi said. "We did not play well. Maybe the first 15 minutes was OK, but the rest wasn't. We can't be satisfied. We have to be self-critical. We should have taken a step forward. It's true this is a tough place to come, but we are disappointed because it wasn't how we wanted to play. Perhaps the only positive is how we defended."

Neither De Jong nor Pedri seems able to return soon, not to mention that Barcelona will continue to lack midfielder Gavi, left-backs Alejandro Balde and Marcos Alonso and forward Ferran Torres due to injuries. The club will first host RCD Mallorca in La Liga on Friday, then play Napoli at home in the UEFA Champions League on March 12 before traveling to Madrid to challenge the fourth-placed Atletico Madrid domestically on March 17.