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Barcelona suffer major blow as extent of Pedri's knee injury is revealed

sportsmole.co.uk 2024/10/6
Major blow: Barcelona learn extent of Pedri's knee injury at Euro 2024

Spain have confirmed that Pedri suffered "a grade two internal lateral sprain in his left knee" during his country's Euro 2024 quarter-final against Germany on Friday night.

The 21-year-old limped off the field in the early stages of the last-eight affair following a heavy challenge from Germany midfielder Toni Kroos.

Pedri was in tears when he was substituted, hinting at a serious issue, and he has now been officially ruled out of the remainder of the European Championship.

Spain have not provided a timeframe on the midfielder's recovery, but various reports have suggested that he could be sidelined for at least the next six weeks.

"Following tests carried out on international player Pedri Gonzalez, the Canarian player has a grade two internal lateral sprain in his left knee," read a statement from the Spanish Football Federation.

Major blow: Barcelona learn extent of Pedri's knee injury at Euro 2024

Barcelona suffer Pedri injury blow

"The footballer will remain with his teammates until the end of the current training camp, which is focused on the Euro 2024 tournament."

Pedri is therefore set to miss Barcelona's entire pre-season preparations, while he is a major doubt for the team's 2024-25 La Liga opener against Valencia on August 17.

Barcelona will face Manchester City, Real Madrid and AC Milan in friendlies ahead of the new campaign, and they will then take on Valencia, Athletic Bilbao, Rayo Vallecano and Real Valladolid in their opening four league matches of the season.

Pedri has had a whole host of injury problems during his time at Barcelona, but he has still represented the Catalan giants on 143 occasions since his arrival from Las Palmas in 2020.

Major blow: Barcelona learn extent of Pedri's knee injury at Euro 2024

De la Fuente fumes at Kroos challenge

Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente was highly critical of Kroos's challenge after the Euro 2024 quarter-final, claiming that the midfielder deserved to be sent off in his final match in professional football.

"I think it was a red card challenge," De la Fuente too reporters.

"Whether he is on the pitch or off, Pedri will continue to contribute. They are games that are like that, when you are playing so much, at this point, you have to use your whole squad."

Barcelona also lost Gavi to a serious knee injury while he was representing Spain towards the end of last year, and news of Pedri's issue will be a huge blow to new head coach Hansi Flick's preparations for the 2024-25 campaign.

The Catalan giants finished second in La Liga last season, while they reached the quarter-finals of both the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

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