World News – USA – Barcelona star injured in warm-up, Misses Granada Clash

Barcelona’s preparations for Saturday’s La Liga clash with Granada in Los Carmenes suffered a blow when defender Ronald Araujo sustained an injury in the warm-up and was forced to miss the game

The Uruguayan international was named in the starting XI for the game, but did not come onto the field after a leg injury and had to be replaced by the French international Samuel Umtiti

🚨 LINEUP CHANGE! @samumtiti will be in the starting XI instead of @ RonaldAraujo939 who felt a bit uncomfortable during the pre-game warm-up ImageTwittercom / msdOBdj4gC

It’s Umtiti’s first start to the season for Barcelona after recovering from knee problems The center-back has made three substitute appearances His last appearance was the 3-0 win against Real Valladolid in December

Ronald Koeman only made one change to his original starting XI for the game, the Barca boss had decided to bring in 21-year-old Oscar Mingueza as a replacement for the suspended Clement Lenglet

The Dutchman spoke in his press conference on Friday about how he would replace the French

Umtiti has been out of action for a long time He had to overcome injuries, it’s a long way back He has to play, he had a few minutes and we have to make up our minds because Lenglet won’t be there. We also have Mingueza who played there We will make this decision after training this afternoon

But Araujo’s injury meant Koeman had to move to Umtiti and set up a new defense in Los Carmenes The absence of Araujo and Lenglet also leaves Barca options from the bench

Koeman could turn to Frenkie de Jong if Umtiti or Mingueza have to be replaced during the 90 minutes. The Dutch midfielder has played in the central defender for Barcelona several times this season. De Jong knows this role from his time at Ajax and the Netherlands National team

Up ahead, Koeman chose to stick with the same players who had an impressive win over Athletic last time in the league, midfielder Sergio Busquets stepped into the field and reached a major career milestone in Barcelona

The Spanish international started with De Jong and 18-year-old Pedri in midfield, while captain Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele continued the attack in Barcelona

Griezmann has been without a goal in his last seven games for Barcelona but received an assist in San Mames after picking up Messi for the team’s third goal that night

Meanwhile, Dembele is starting for Barcelona for the third time in a row after an injury.The Frenchman has been plagued by injuries throughout his time at Camp Nou but will be 16 in 2020-21 Use

FC Barcelona