Barcelona were less than a quarter of an hour away from a perfect month’s work when Jules Koundé went down, clutching the back of his right leg.
As the 27-year-old France international trudged off the pitch at Villarreal, reluctantly making way for Marc Casadó, the mind wandered back to early September, when Koundé voiced frustration over football’s unrelenting fixture list.
The right-back’s truncated shift at El Madrigal marked his ninth appearance in 30 days across all competitions and, while Barcelona’s only loss over that period was a 3-0 Champions League defeat at Chelsea in late November, thoughts immediately turned to January’s Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Athletic Club in Saudi Arabia.
Was Koundé, who missed the final weeks of last season with a hamstring injury, about to become the latest victim of what he has termed the game’s “over-consumption”?
Thankfully, it would appear not. Later, as he strolled through the mixed zone after a 2-0 win that keeps Barcelona four points clear at the top of La Liga, Koundé affirmed that he was not injured and would be available for the Jeddah showpiece.
That verdict was endorsed by Hansi Flick.
Jules Koundé injury not serious, says Barcelona boss Hansi Flick
“I think Koundé is fine,” said the Barcelona manager. “He was sick for the last three or four days and didn’t arrive at the match in the best shape he should have been.
“I don’t think what happened today is anything serious.”
The initial diagnosis is a minor hamstring strain, which suggests the Frenchman could be sidelined for between two and three weeks. La Liga’s 10-day winter break could not have come at a better time for Koundé, who can now focus solely on rest and rehabilitation before the domestic schedule resumes with a derby at Espanyol on 3 January.
From there, however, Barca’s hectic schedule will resume. The opening game in Saudi Arabia follows four days later. A win against Atlético would see Hansi Flick’s men advance to the final against either Real Madrid or Atlético on 11 January. A trip to Real Sociedad beckons the following weekend, directly after which Barcelona fly to Czechia to face Slavia Prague in the Champions League. Four days later, they are slated to host Oviedo in La Liga, with Copenhagen due to arrive three days later.
The absence of international fixtures aside, it is precisely the kind of schedule that Koundé had in mind when he took aim at the relentlessness of football’s never-ending fixture list.
Koundé: ‘No one listens to the players’
“Every year we have more games and less rest,” said the Frenchman. “We have been saying this for three, four years and no one listens to the players. The time will come when we will have to go on strike to make ourselves heard by those who decide.
“We assume an increasing maximum risk and you can see that there are more injuries because there is less and less rest time.”
As La Liga shuts down, those words resonate more strongly than ever.
