Barcelona star suffered a fracture just before decisive game vs leaders Girona

Barcelona got a key victory in La Liga last Sunday. They beat Atlético Madrid 1-0 at the Estadio Olímpico Lluis Companys in Montjuic with a goal by Joao Felix and are in third place in the league table with 34 points, 4 points behind leaders Real Madrid and Girona. In addition, the value of the result is related to the fact that it was against another of Spain's giants, who had the same number of points as them.

Next Sunday Los Blaugranas will have another decisive match. They will face precisely one of the leaders Girona. Miguel Angel Sanchez's team are the big surprise of the season. With low profile players they have shown great performances and obtained excellent results. In fact, they barely lost one game in the league, against Real Madrid, and have won six of their last seven games.

Boss Xavi Hernandez knows that it is essential for Barcelona to get a win against Girona and that is why he wants to put together the best possible team. But this week he encountered an unexpected problem: during the match against Atlético Madrid, Ronald Araujo collided with Marcos Llorente and suffered a blow to his face which, although it caused him pain, did not prevent him from continuing to play.

However, he then underwent medical tests that gave bad results. According to the newspaper Marca, he has a fracture in his cheekbone. The good news is that for now the specialists consider that it is not necessary for him to undergo surgery and, in fact, he will be able to play next Sunday against Girona wearing a protective mask.

He is not the only one with problems

In addition to Ronald Araujo, three other Barcelona players are injured. Gavi is the most serious of them, with a knee injury that will require between six and eight months of recovery. Marc-André Ter Stegen will also be sidelined for a long time with lower back pain and is expected to return in February. Iñigo Martinez, who did not play against Atlético Madrid due to a muscle problem, is expected to recover this week.