An “unhappy” Hansi Flick said he will speak with the medical staff at Barcelona after Jules Koundé and Alejandro Balde suffered hamstring injuries against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday.
Both full-backs failed to finish the Copa del Rey semifinal as Barça won 3-0 but exited the competition 4-3 on aggregate.
Balde will be out for a month, Barça confirmed on Wednesday, while club sources said Koundé is also unlikely to play again before March’s international break, ruling the duo out of the upcoming Champions League tie with Newcastle United.
Barça have now lost three players to hamstring injuries in the last week after Frenkie de Jong was also ruled out until April.
“We have two injuries more, I am not happy, it’s not good,” Barça coach Flick told TV3.
“With Frenkie, it’s now three in a week, all the same injuries. This cannot happen. We have to speak about that.
“We have to speak about it with the medical staff and with the fitness coaches to avoid losing three players to injury in a week.”
In addition to the round-of-16 tie against Newcastle, the trio will also miss upcoming LaLiga games against Athletic Club, Sevilla and Rayo Vallecano before the international break.
The setback leaves Barça with just two fit full-backs, João Cancelo and Gerard Martín, although Eric García, Ronald Araújo and Marc Casadó have all played at right-back in the past.
Gavi, Robert Lewandowski and Andreas Christensen also feature on a growing injury list. Gavi returned to training recently after five months out, Lewandowski has a fractured eye socket and Christensen has no return date yet.
Koundé and Balde both sustained their hamstring injuries as Barça came agonisingly close to pulling off an unlikely comeback against Atlético at Spotify Camp Nou.
Marc Bernal scored twice and Raphinha netted a penalty to secure a 3-0 win, but it was not enough to turn around last month’s 4-0 hammering in Madrid.
They now turn their attention to LaLiga, where they lead Real Madrid at the top of the table by four points, and the Champions League.
Flick’s side travel to St James’ Park next Tuesday for the first leg of the round-of-16 tie, with the return game scheduled for Camp Nou a week later on March 18.
