Dilemma for Xavi – Barcelona forward dealing with knock ahead of Las Palmas clash

The international break was one without any major incidents as far as FC Barcelona are concerned, considering how the club have been dealt with injury blows to players in the past during national team fixtures.

There were some concerns when Jules Kounde seemed to have injured himself against Germany, but it was nothing and the Frenchman played for France last night against Chile.

Ronald Araujo was released early by Uruguay allegedly due to some physical discomfort, but there is nothing to worry about on that front either with the defender expected to be ready for the Las Palmas game.

Fresh issue for Xavi?

Now Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez is set to be presented with a fresh dilemma as Robert Lewandowski might be dealing with a knock, reports SPORT.

The 35-year-old Poland captain had a lot at stake heading into the international break as his team was vying for a place in the UEFA Euro 2024.

Lewandowski was able to lead his team to the summer’s tournament, thanks to a comfortable win over Estonia, followed by a hard-fought penalty shootout victory against Wales on Tuesday.

During the game against Wales, Lewandowski played the entire 120 minutes (normal time + extra time) and even successfully converted his penalty in the shootout.

Lewandowski has led Poland to UEFA Euro 2024. (Photo by GEOFF CADDICK/AFP via Getty Images)

However, in the second half, he was seen clutching his thigh at times and even needed the medical staff to ice that region before the start of extra time.

While Lewandowski fought off the pain and helped Poland see the game through, the knock on his thigh does present a concern for Xavi.

Lewandowski could do with a rest

Lewandowski has played 39 matches for Barcelona this season in all competitions and has featured in six games across three international breaks for Poland, taking his tally for club and country to 45.

It is still March and there are two more months left in the season, and as such Xavi will need to manage his ace goalscorer’s workload carefully, especially with crucial games against PSG and Real Madrid coming up.

It must be noted that the striker will not train on Wednesday and will only have a couple of sessions leading up to the game. Furthermore, it is unclear whether he will be able to train at full capacity due to the knock.

At the same time, the forward has been in brilliant form and Barça’s opponents for Saturday, Las Palmas, can pose a challenge. So, Xavi has a dilemma at his hands to make a decision on Lewandowski’s involvement on Saturday.