Barcelona star center midfielder Frenkie de Jong has gone down injured yet again, and the club officially announced that he will miss five to six weeks with a distal biceps femoris injury in his right hamstring after sustaining an injury on the Feb. 26 morning training session.
De Jong is part of a deep and talented Barcelona midfield, but he is still a crucial player to the Blaugrana, especially in terms of keeping the ball and maintaining control in the biggest of games.
The Dutchman has started 16 matches this season for Barca, averaging 2.1 tackles per game compared to a meager 0.5 dribbles completed allowed. He is also averaging 1.6 key passes and 1.3 fouls drawn per game with a pass completion percentage close to 95 percent.
De Jong does it all for Barcelona, and they are going to miss the deep-lying playmaker, ball progressor, and screening defender badly, especially with the Champions League knockouts set to start up for them in a couple of weeks after the bye.
The injury will take De Jong out until potentially the middle of April, so he will miss both legs of the Champions League Round of 16, as well as La Liga clashes against Villarreal, Athletic Club, and Sevilla. He also won’t be there to try and help Barca turn a 4-0 deficit in the Copa del Rey vs. Atletico Madrid.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.