Barcelona, September 28
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said he is cautious about starting teenage forward Ansu Fati away to Benfica tomorrow so soon after returning from injury as the Catalans look to kickstart their Champions League campaign.
Barca were beaten 3-0 at home by Bayern Munich in their opening Group E game and drew their next two La Liga matches with Granada and Cadiz before returning to form with a 3-0 home win over Levante on Sunday.
Fati came off the bench to score the last goal against Levante after over 10 months sidelined with a knee injury during which he underwent four operations. His return has unleashed a wave of hope at the club after a despondent start to the season following Lionel Messi’s departure.
But Koeman said he needed to tread carefully with the 18-year-old, who has inherited Messi’s No. 10 shirt and is Barca’s youngest goalscorer in the league.
“He was very tired yesterday, being away for so long and then to score with his family in the stadium had a huge impact on him emotionally,” Koeman told a news conference on Tuesday. “Today he has trained well and we’ll try to give him a bit more game time but I can’t say how many minutes we’ll give him, it depends on what state he is in.”
Fati could be called into the Spain squad for October’s UEFA Nations League final tournament.
“All I can say is he’s been away from the pitch for 10 months, he’s trained for two weeks with the team and played 15 minutes,” Koeman said. “He’s still got a long way to go although Sunday was a great day for him, he played 15 minutes and scored our third goal, it was perfect.” — Reuters
United’s Maguire out, Shaw doubtful for Villarreal game
MANCHESTER: Manchester United captain Harry Maguire will be sidelined for a few weeks with a calf injury, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said today ahead of their group game against Villarreal. Maguire and fellow defender Luke Shaw did not take part in Tuesday’s training session but Solskjaer added he was hopeful left-back Shaw could make the squad when United host Villarreal. The two players were substituted after picking up injuries in the weekend’s 1-0 Premier League home loss to Aston Villa and Maguire’s injury could rule him out of England’s World Cup qualifiers next month. “Harry is, more or less, definitely out and it doesn’t look good,” Solskjaer said. “Luke has been in today so I’ll give him a chance to be involved.” Reuters
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
