Things are looking bad for F.C Barcelona as two more of their players seem to have picked up injuries over the international break. First choice right-back Sergi Roberto reportedly missed his training session on Saturday with an injury while Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen has suffered a sprained ankle during his training session with the national team.
Sergi Roberto is expected to miss Sunday’s game against Albania after his injury and his Real Madrid counterpart Dani Carvajal is expected to replace him in the starting 11 on Sunday. "We must see how [Sergi Roberto] progresses as he has a minor muscular injury," said Julen Lopetegui, the coach of the Spanish national team prior to their game.
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Another Barcelona player Jordi Alba is reported to have suffered a knock during on of the training session after the duo joins Saul Niguez and Javi Martinez as the injured players for Spain.
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The Royal Dutch Football Federation on announced on Saturday evening that Jasper Cillessen, who is the first choice keeper for Netherlands has suffered a sprained ankle injury in the training session as a result of which the 27-year old shot-stopper has been ruled out for Monday’s 2018 World Cup qualifier game against France at the Amsterdam Arena as the Dutch look to remain on top of the table for their Group.
Michel Vorm has been called up as a replacement for Jasper Cillessen who sat out on Friday night when Netherlands thrashed Belarus 4-1. Everton's goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg was picked to stay in goal instead of the Barcelona goalkeeper.
Michel Vorm has been reduced to a third choice goalkeeper for his country for the past 4-5 years after Tim Krul, Maarten Stekelenburg and Jasper Cillessen have been more consistent than former Swansea City goalkeeper.
Barcelona has been having a bad season in terms of fitness after and Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto and Jasper Cillessen are the latest to join Ivan Rakitic, Lionel Messi and Samuel Umtiti on the injury list.
Other players who have been hit by injuries this season were Marc-Andre Ter-Stegen (twice), Andres Iniesta, Andre Gomes, Javier Mascherano, and Jeremy Mathieu. That takes the tally to 11 different players who have been injured in a span of just 2 months for Barcelona while Ter-Stegen and Leo Messi have been injured twice each this season.
It looks like Luis Enrique will have to find a solution to this injury crisis despite having great squad depth.
