Gavi left the pitch with a pained expression. Followers of Barcelona and Spain will not be used to seeing the 19-year-old midfielder like this; they feared the worst once they noticed him placing his palms to his face to cover his tears.
Gavi suffered a knock when he was challenged by Georgia’s Luka Lochoshvili within the twentieth minute however carried on enjoying after initially coming off. Three minutes later, he pulled up when controlling a ball and was compelled off for good.
These worst fears had been then confirmed when the primary prognosis got here again on Sunday evening: an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in Gavi’s proper knee which implies he’s anticipated to miss the remainder of the season and subsequent summer time’s European Championship.
Gavi in ache following his harm on Sunday (Pablo Morano/Xinhua through Getty Photos)
Barcelona sources, who requested to stay nameless to guard their place, expressed frustration that Spain had allowed Gavi to remain on the pitch as soon as he had damage himself within the collision with Lochoshvili. They are saying the harm occurred then and never when Gavi tried to manage the ball minutes later, as De la Fuente stated in his post-match press convention. Spain declined to touch upon this level when requested by The Athletic.
“We spoke with the participant, it was not the problem, the blow. It was when he managed the ball,” De La Fuente stated. “The primary motion had nothing to do with the second.”
That is particularly painful for Barca, who’ve a small squad for this marketing campaign made up of 19 gamers. Gavi has been indispensable for coach Xavi and is the third most used participant within the group after goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and summer time signing Ilkay Gundogan, with 1,171 minutes performed.
Most used Barcelona gamers this season
|
Participant
|
Video games performed
|
Minutes performed
|
|---|---|---|
|
17 |
1,530 |
|
|
17 |
1,451 |
|
|
15 |
1,171 |
|
|
14 |
1,152 |
|
|
16 |
1,132 |
He has taken on much more significance given Barca’s harm disaster within the early a part of the season, which has hit their midfield significantly arduous. Within the membership’s 2-1 defeat to Actual Madrid final month, Gavi, together with Gundogan and Oriol Romeu (Fermin Lopez will not be but registered as a first-team participant), was considered one of simply three senior midfielders out there to Xavi. Sergi Roberto and Frenkie de Jong are nonetheless out injured, though the latter is predicted to return this weekend towards Rayo Vallecano.
Gavi was simply as necessary final season, when Xavi performed him as a fourth midfielder who pushed up in assault; a system that helped Barca win their first La Liga title since 2019. This marketing campaign, he has been used on the base of midfield — partly as a result of the group’s wingers Joao Felix, Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres began in higher type and due to the emergence of La Masia graduate Lopez.
That has led to a greater Gavi on the pitch. As a participant who already stood out for his want, angle and dedication to defensive sacrifice, he has been much more efficient on this position. Regardless of defeat in final month’s Clasico, he put in a virtuoso efficiency and confirmed management past his years.
Gavi shone on this season’s El Clasico (Pedro Salado/High quality Sport Photos/Getty Photos).
Past the pitch, his loss is especially unhappy due to how beloved he’s for membership and nation. He has lengthy been one of many stars most applauded by Barca followers since his debut in August 2021 on the age of 17. He’s a dressing-room favorite — and the identical is true of Spain, the place even Actual Madrid gamers, equivalent to Joselu, have grown keen on him. The Madrid striker was one of many first to console Gavi in Valladolid.
Gavi’s harm is worrying given how reminiscent it’s of Pedri’s case. Now 20, the midfielder performed 73 video games in his debut marketing campaign for Barcelona and Spain in 2020-21. He was an undisputed starter for Barca after his transfer from Las Palmas and for Spain at that summer time’s delayed Euros and the Tokyo Olympics. However that season took its toll within the type of fatigue and fixed accidents the next season. Pedri returned this month from a hamstring harm that had stored him out since August and was not thought-about prepared for a Spain call-up.
This season, Gavi has performed 21 membership and nationwide group video games in three months. The one two he has missed have been because of suspension: towards Shakhtar Donetsk within the Champions League and Deportivo Alaves in La Liga simply earlier than the worldwide break.
No different Barca participant has made as many as Gavi’s 131 appearances for membership and nation (104 for Barca; 27 for Spain) since his debut two years in the past. And no different Spain participant has featured in as many as his 27 video games since his worldwide debut in October 2021 — when he turned his nation’s youngest participant at 17 years, two months and a day, a file since surpassed by his 16-year-old Barca team-mate Yamal.
Most Barcelona video games since Gavi’s debut
Most Spain video games since Gavi’s worldwide debut
Gavi began each video games for De la Fuente’s aspect on this current worldwide break, each 3-1 wins towards Cyprus and Georgia that confirmed first place in group A. De la Fuente was requested whether or not Gavi ought to be rested earlier than the match towards Georgia, seeing as qualification had already been secured.
“Gavi is hyperactive, he by no means desires to cease, you simply have to observe him practice, that’s why he performs a lot and so properly,” he stated on Saturday. Little greater than 24 hours later, he was calling the sport towards Georgia “his most bitter victory”.
There are parallels between Pedri, left, and Gavi’s conditions (Silvestre Szpylma/High quality Sport Photos/Getty Photos).
Any participant can undergo an ACL harm, however Gavi has needed to take care of a excessive variety of matches since he began enjoying in Barca’s first group. There isn’t any doubting his significance to the aspect and it’s arduous to say who will substitute him.
With Pedri again and De Jong about to return from the ankle harm he suffered in September, Xavi might have to show to them to interchange Gavi. Lopez has been performing properly since he made the step up from Barcelona Atletic (the membership’s B group) and will play the same position. He isn’t as assured as Gavi in the case of recovering the ball however may give Barca extra in assault.
If a participant suffers a long-term harm of 4 months or extra, La Liga guidelines permit a membership that’s over its wage restrict to signal a alternative on 80 per cent of the participant’s wage for the remainder of the season. It must be a short-term deal — which means a mortgage or a contract till the tip of the season — with a wage decrease than Gavi’s wage.
Barca may signal one other participant, then, however no one will substitute the soul their younger midfielder brings to the group. There’s a cause Xavi calls him “cor amb potes” — a coronary heart with legs. Barca’s has simply been ripped out.
(Photograph: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Photos))
