Barcelona dealt enormous injury blow ahead of Inter and Real Madrid

Barcelona rescued themselves from behind twice against Inter in the Champions League semi-final first leg, in a bittersweet evening. The Blaugrana will feel they should have won the game after conceding twice from set pieces. Now they are counting the cost.

After just 42 minutes, French defender Jules Kounde went down on the pitch feeling the back of his calf. He ended up having to come off, and Eric Garcia came on to replace him, doing a reasonably good job out of position at right-back. Kounde’s injury has sparked concern though ahead of a series of crucial fixtures.

He will undergo tests on Thursday, but it seems that Kounde has suffered a muscle problem, and presumably one beyond a grade tear. That can be gleaned from Sport‘s report, who say that Kounde will miss their La Liga clash with Real Valladolid, their Champions League return leg in Milan against Inter, and their decisive Clasico with Real Madrid the following weekend. As Kounde left the stadium, he was seen limping, and told the cameras ‘we’ll see tomorrow’.