Barcelona dropped two points in Bilbao and more important lost two hugely important players just nine days before they play Napoli in the Champions League.
Both Frenkie de Jong and Pedri went off before the break and look like huge doubts for that last-16 second leg.
De Jong suffered what looked like a recurrence of an old injury in his right ankle. He twisted it badly when he landed after jumping for a header. He tried to carry on but could not even put weight on the ankle and a cart had to transport him off the pitch.
De Jong missed ten games with a right ankle injury towards the end of last year and the club will hope he is not now out for a similar period.
Despite that set-back Barcelona almost took the lead when Unai Simon committed to a clearance outside his area and Joao Cancelo shot towards the empty goal. The ball was heading over the line but Simon scrambled back to get fingertips to it. He had taken the sting out of it but it still needed Yeray Alvarez to hook the ball off the line.
Two minutes before the break Barcelona lost a second midfielder to what looked like another recurring injury. Pedri at least managed to walk off the pitch but it looked like the return of a thigh injury.
The Spain midfielder was in tears and consoled by his international team-mate the Athletic keeper Unai Simon. It’s his third injury this season and from his reaction it looked a bad one.
Xavi was fuming on the bench at all the misfortune. He had also talked himself into a booking for protesting perceived leniency from referee Jose Hernandez Hernandez. No coach has been cautioned as much as Xavi since he took over as Barça manager.
Ronaldo Araujo was also booked and both the Uruguayan and his coach will be missing in next Friday’s game
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