Joan García a doubt for Sevilla clash with right knee discomfort

It took just half an hour of play for him to head to the locker room with a look of concern on his face. Joan García felt discomfort in his right knee during the first half against Racing de Santander and did not come back out for the second half. Wojciech Szczesny replaced him and played the remaining 45 minutes of a night that ended in a 7-2 rout for Barcelona at Camp Nou.

The Catalan club confirmed the medical report on Thursday: it is described as mild discomfort in the right knee. It is not the same knee that troubled him last year, when Joan García underwent surgery on the meniscus in his left knee and was sidelined for more than a month. This time, at least, there is no surgical history involved, though Barcelona has not given a specific timeline for his recovery.

Will he be ready for the weekend? Everything points to no. According to sources, the goalkeeper will sit out Saturday's match against Sevilla at the Sánchez-Pizjuán as a precaution. And that's not all: his participation with the Spanish national team in the upcoming Nations League fixtures is also uncertain, something that should become clearer over the coming days depending on how the knee responds.

In the meantime, life goes on at the Ciudad Deportiva Joan Gamper. The team was back training on Thursday under the usual setup following a demanding match: those who logged the most minutes on Wednesday did recovery work, while the rest trained on the Camp Tito Vilanova pitch. The session also included two players from the reserve team, Jesse Bisiwu and Hamza Abdelkarim, who joined the group.

The routine continues Friday with training set for 11:00 a.m. Afterward, it will be Hansi Flick's turn to face the media, as he previews how the team arrives at the matchup with Sevilla, a game the German coach will approach with the goalkeeper situation still not fully resolved.