Barcelona starlet provides fitness update ahead of pre-season

Barcelona have already brought in Joan Garcia, and soon they hope to orchestrate the arrival of Nico Williams from Athletic Club. But someone that will feel like a new signing next season is Marc Bernal.

Last summer, Bernal broke into the Barcelona first team upon Hansi Flick’s arrival as head coach, and he impressed a lot during pre-season. And as a result, he started the first three matches of the 2025-26 campaign.

He excelled during these fixtures, but disaster struck in the third match, which was against Rayo Vallecano. In stoppage time, he suffered a rupture to his anterior cruciate ligament, and that caused him to miss the remainder of the season.

Since then, Bernal has been recovering, and this process has been going well. He is expected to be in pre-season training when the Barcelona squad return later this month, and he has confirmed this himself during an interview with Deleito (via MD).

“In principle, I can start training (at the start of pre-season) with the rest of my teammates. But I don’t know when I will be able to play. There is that fear of not returning at the same level as before, but I want to do it with confidence.”

Bernal also opened up on his recovery from the ACL tear. He revealed that it was difficult to deal with mentally, especially considering how well Barcelona did last season.

“At the time of the injury I already knew that something had happened. I went to intercept a ball on the wing, I got hit from behind and I heard a crack. I broke down, with a whole year without playing.  It mentally destroyed me. It’s crazy how tough it is mentally during those months. You miss the whole year and want to do things you can’t.

“I would have liked to have been in the team’s successes, but especially on the Espanyol field, the day we won La Liga.”

Bernal is expected to be an important player for Barcelona once he gets back up to speed. Flick sees him very well, and he will compete for the defensive midfield positions alongside Pedri, Frenkie de Jong and Marc Casado.