Barcelona's injury record reaches extremely worrying level | OneFootball

As another international break is upon us, nobody will likely be happier about it than Barcelona.

LaLiga’s leaders have suffered horribly from injuries this season and can use the downtime to try to deal with their latest fitness issues.

A report in AS points out that in just 12 weeks of competitive action this season, Barcelona have suffered from a staggering 16 different injuries already, with muscle issues being the biggest culprit.

Since the bad luck began with their star man Lionel Messi towards the end of pre-season in early August, it has showed no signs of letting up.

In their latest clash against Celta, Nélson Semedo was forced off early with a calf problem that is now set to keep him out for five weeks.

The Portuguese defender’s injury makes him the 13th different player to be forced onto the treatment table this season.

Fellow defenders Samuel Umtiti, Jean-Clair Todibo, Jordi Alba, Junior Firpo and Sergi Roberto have all been missing at various points, while in midfield Arthur also had to sit out against Levante.

Antoine Griezmann is the only member of the Barça attack yet to suffer from the fitness bug, with Luis Suárez, Carles Pérez, Ansu Fati and the always-injured Ousmane Dembélé being sidelined in addition to Messi.

Even the goalkeeping position hasn’t been immune with new arrival Neto breaking a finger in pre-season to rule him out of the start of the season.

Worryingly, four of the players (Messi, Suárez, Alba and Dembélé) have suffered separate injury problems, to the ongoing concern of those within the club.

At present, full-backs Semedo and Alba are the only players currently sidelined but given how the season has gone so far, you fear they will soon have company in the infirmary.