Barcelona defender misses training ahead of Athletic Club match due to physical issue

Barcelona are set to square off against Athletic Club in their second La Liga game of the season tomorrow at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

Following the 2-1 win over Valencia on opening day, the Blaugrana will be hopeful of carrying the momentum forward and picking up a victory in Hansi Flick’s first official home game in charge.

Andreas Christensen absent from training

However, Barcelona might have to deal with the absence of one of their regulars on Saturday as defender Andreas Christensen is absent from today’s training session.

Indeed, according to journalist David Ibanez, Christensen is not training with the rest of the team today due to a physical problem.

The Danish international did not start the opening game against Valencia as Flick opted for the centre-back pairing of Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez.

However, Christensen did come on in the second half, a little after the hour mark and helped his team see out the game and hold on to their lead, although he did receive a yellow card.

Heading into tomorrow’s clash against Athletic, though, his availability has now been cast under a cloud of doubt after not training with the squad today. A more concrete update on the 28-year-old’s situation is awaited.

Not going anywhere

Christensen has been linked with a departure late in the summer in recent days with clubs from England and Saudi Arabia said to be interested.

However, the 28-year-old former Chelsea man has no intentions of leaving Barcelona even though, at the moment, he appears to be behind the likes of Cubarsi and Martinez in the pecking order.

The Dane has had niggling fitness problems throughout his stint at Barcelona and will be hoping that the current issue is nothing serious and that he can make a swift return.

It must be noted that Ilkay Gundogan, Vitor Roque, and Mika Faye are also not in training today as they are finalising their departures from the club.