Barcelona breathe sigh of relief as defender released from international duty after injury scare | OneFootball

Barcelona will welcome back Pau Cubarsi in the coming hours, with the defender having officially left the Spain camp on Friday afternoon. As such, the 18-year-old will not be included in the squad for Sunday’s UEFA Nations League quarter-final second leg against The Netherlands.

In the opening half of Thursday’s first leg, Cubarsi was forced off after suffering a blow to his ankle. Despite this, there had been confidence that he would be available for the return match at the Mestalla, although these hopes have now been dashed, much to the delight of La Liga leaders Barcelona.

On Friday, the Spanish Football Federation announced that Cubarsi had withdrawn from the Spain squad with immediate effect, allowing him to return to Barcelona to undergo further medical tests on his injured ankle.

“After the tests carried out by the Medical Services of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, it has been decided that the player will return to his club, Futbol Club Barcelona, to begin his recovery from the discomfort he has in his right ankle and that prevented him from finishing the match against the Netherlands at the ‘De Kuip’ stadium in Rotterdam.”

Pau Cubarsi celebrating with Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal during Spain’s 2-2 draw against The Netherlands on Thursday (Image via AP Photo / Pieter de Jong)

Cubarsi is the fourth Spanish central defender to suffer with injury problems in recent weeks. Dani Vivian and Aymeric Laporte were forced to miss out on the initial squad, while Inigo Martinez had to withdraw after picking up a knock in Barcelona’s 4-2 victory over Atletico Madrid last weekend.

Spain have already decided to call up Lazio’s Mario Gila as a replacement for Cubarsi, and he joins Robin Le Normand, Dean Huijsen and Raul Asencio in Luis de la Fuente’s squad. The former Real Madrid defender will feel that he is in contention to make his La Roja debut in the second leg against The Netherlands.