Sergio Busquets will be out for 3 weeks: Who could replace him?

After picking an injury against Switzerland on Saturday, Sergio Busquets will be sidelined for three weeks, according to reports. As a Ronald Koeman favourite, Busquets will leave a hole in the team and his coach will have to fill it. This injury means Busquets could miss four games.

Busquets is not a usual suspect when it comes to injuries. He has not gotten injured for more than a few weeks, and it is the case again now. In fact, the last time he got such a ‘lengthy’ injury was in 2018.

In those three weeks, the La Masia graduate will miss two league games and two Champions League outings. Most importantly, he will miss out on the Atlético Madrid fixture, a potential title decider for the Catalan giants. Busquets will also miss both the Dynamo Kyiv and Ferencvaros games. This does not come as a problem as the Catalans are in a perfect position in the competition.

However, the holding midfielder will also miss the Osasuna fixture. The Basque side is the last one to beat Barcelona at Camp Nou. Without Ansu Fati, Ronald Araujo, and Busquets, it might be hard to get a result.

Who could replace Busquets?

The 32-year-old started ten games this season, and this now leaves Koeman in a delicate position. During three weeks, the Dutchman will have to replace his holding midfielder. The natural replacement is Miralem Pjanic.

Pjanic started some games in front of Busquets and replaced the veteran during games. In the games he played, the Bosnian was superb and will start for the next three weeks. The real question now is to ask who will be Pjanic’s replacement if he gets tired or injured.

Despite the positive atmosphere around Pjanic, the Culés would also like to see the youngsters at work. Players like Carles Aleña and Riqui Puig have played a derisory amount of minutes because their coach does not rate them. The fans want to see Puig as they feel like he earned his place thanks to his superb form under Quique Setién.

Koeman said that he wanted to incorporate youngsters when he came. Now is the perfect time to experiment with less experienced players.

Against Atlético Madrid on the 21st, Pjanic will start. However, against smaller sides, or perhaps in the Champions League where Barça are in a superb position, Puig and Aleña should get the gametime. Other than these two, Culés want to see other youngsters. Perhaps with Ilaix Moriba injured, Ilias Akhomach could get his first minutes under the Dutchman.

Akhomach, Moriba, Puig and Aleña are the three most talented midfielders that have come through the ranks at La Masia. Discarding the latter two might prove to be a mistake from Koeman, but he’s now obliged to use them, at least sporadically. Busquets’ injury, while horrible for the player himself, has unlocked the way for youngsters and might be a blessing in disguise for them.

The post Sergio Busquets will be out for 3 weeks: Who could replace him? appeared first on Barca Universal.



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