Barcelona were hit with a setback on Tuesday, with Fermin Lopez being ruled out for another month. The 21-year-old had only returned to training that day after two weeks out with a thigh tear.
The second injury is the same issue, but in his other leg, and will keep him out until after the October international break – their first game back is against Sevilla on the 20th of October, and he will miss at least six games. The bad news, delivered by SER Catalunya, is that is the same issue that kicked off Pedri’s nightmarish fitness issues.
The Fernández cousins are training with the first team ahead of the game vs. Monaco. @gbsans
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) September 18, 2024
Like Pedri, Lopez has been competing in both the Euros and the Olympics this summer, and Adria Albets referred to the injury as ‘a classic of the genre’ when players play too many games, and don’t get enough rest. He goes on to say that the medical team made a mistake with his recovery work, and that often players will injure the other leg due to the unbalancing aspect of the first injury. Inigo Martinez also suffered from similar muscle issues in both legs last season too.
🚨 "La lesió de Fermin és la mateixa que li va provocar el calvari a Pedri després de jugar fa 3 anys Eurocopa i Jocs Olímpics"
🦵 "Quan et lesiones d'una cama i no estàs al 100%, els músculs compensen la feina i s'acaben sobrecarregant i trencant"
🎙️ @AdriaAlbets al… pic.twitter.com/ZYlkJe86Zc
— Què T'hi Jugues (@QueThiJugues) September 18, 2024
There is no doubt that Lopez did not receive a sensible amount of holidays, missing less than two weeks of action to return to the side. However his case is not exactly the same as that of Pedri, who played just 22 games the following season. Pedri was coming off the back of a season involving 71 games and numerous extra times, including a central role for Spain at the Euros. Fermin featured 31 times last season, but jsut 14 of those were starts, and only played 57 minutes for Spain’s senior side in a friendly before Euro 2024, and then during the tournament.
