Barcelona are greeted by an arduous assignment on their return from the international break, visiting Atlético Madrid as they continue their pursuit of back-to-back La Liga crowns.
This will be the fourth of six meetings between the Spanish behemoths this season—two more to come in the upcoming Champions League quarterfinal—and an opportunity for Barça to take another step towards the title.
Victory at the Metropolitano is never straightforward, as Barça discovered during their recent 4–0 defeat at the venue in the Copa del Rey, and their task is made all the more challenging by the absence of star forward Raphinha.
Here’s why the Brazilian will play no part in Spain’s capital on Saturday.
Why Is Raphinha Not Playing Against Atlético Madrid?
Barcelona have been dealt regular injury setbacks across the campaign and were handed another bruising blow over the international break. Raphinha, who has managed 26 goal contributions in all competitions this term, suffered a hamstring injury during Brazil’s 2–1 defeat to France on March 26.
Considering the clash was only a friendly, Barcelona frustrations are merited, and the Catalans will now be without Raphinha for approximately five weeks. Not only will he miss this weekend’s clash, he’ll sit out both legs of the Champions League tie with Atléti.
An early May return comes as a setback to Barça’s fight for domestic and European silverware, especially considering the form exhibited by Raphinha over recent weeks. Prior to the international period, he had scored six and assisted two in his last six matches.
The winger has missed 13 games for Barcelona through various ailments this season and the club have only won seven of those matches, losing five and drawing the other fixture. The emphatic away loss to Atléti was one of the matches Raphinha missed.
Fortunately, Hansi Flick has other attacking options out wide. Marcus Rashford is the obvious candidate to replace the Brazil star, while Ferran Torres and Fermín López are both capable of playing on the left wing.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Raphinha Isn’t Playing for Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid.
