Barcelona Positive On Gavi After Coming Off Against Osasuna With Injury Fears
Barcelona do not appear to be concerned by Gavi’s fitness after he was brought off, seemingly with a muscle problem, in their 1-0 win over Osasuna.
The 18-year-old felt some pain early on against Osasuna after a challenge where he appeared to twist his knee. He then continued to play for several minutes, before Xavi Hernandez withdrew him for Ansu Fati.
After the match, Xavi confirmed that both Gavi and Raphinha came off due to injury, as reported by Diario AS.
“Yes, he’s injured. We had planned for Christensen and Raphinha to continue a little more but we had to speed things up as Raphinha felt pain. Gavi was also in pain and used the change to be more attacking. He told me it hurt for him to pass and shoot and, as we needed those things, we went on the attack.”
Sport maintain that it was purely precautionary, and Xavi would later assure that he expects all of his squad to be fit for the next match.
That comes in 11 days time, with a rare break for Barcelona, before they face city rivals Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium. Los Pericos are fighting relegation, but Barcelona know they could secure the title with a victory.
Gavi has started 15 of Barcelona’s last 16 La Liga matches, often completing 90 minutes during those matches. The Blaugrana have an oppportunity to rest Gavi in the final weeks of the season, and it might do the teenager some good, as he has been dealing with heavy demands on his physique this season.
