Player injuries plague Barça, fitness/physiotherapy chief faces scrutiny

Pedri's injury will not go unnoticed within the club. Until now, the injuries that have shaken the dressing room were considered normal in such a demanding season. 

It's true that Lamine Yamal's pubalgia continues to cause more than a few headaches, as does the severity of Gavi's injury, which initially underwent conservative treatment, entirely unsuccessful, and ended up requiring surgery, with the unpleasant surprise that a meniscus injury that was initially expected to be out for five weeks worsened to five months.

However, Pedri's injury has completely changed the paradigm. The Canary Islands international, who will be out for a minimum of six weeks due to a tear in his left hamstring, has left everyone stunned and dismayed.

The anger within the club is monumental, and the demand to stop this hemorrhage is an absolute priority. Two people are currently at the center of the storm: Julio Tous, the head of physical conditioning, and Raúl Martínez, the head of physiotherapy. Both arrived practically with Hansi Flick, although they had already been collaborating externally during Xavi Hernández's time. The club placed its bet on these two renowned professionals, convinced that they would improve both the players' physical condition and injury prevention.

In the first season, the team improved in every way, especially physically, with the squad fully engaged under Flick's guidance. However, the improvement in injuries wasn't as substantial—Tous had promised a 50% reduction in muscle injuries compared to the previous year—as the team ended up with the highest number of injuries in LaLiga, with 20 players, compared to Real Madrid's 18. In any case, it's also worth noting that Barcelona, along with Real Madrid, played the most matches this season, reaching the Champions League semi-finals and the Copa del Rey final.

However, this season has seen a substantial decline across the board, both in terms of physical condition and injuries. The club had been managing as best they could until now, focusing on international players, with Lamine as the prime example.

But Pedri's injury has finally set off alarm bells. The Canary Islander was one of the players who improved the most since Tous and Martínez arrived, to the point of remaining injury-free. The club even explained that the new injury prevention methods implemented by Tous, using straps instead of weights, had reversed the negative trend that had kept the midfielder sidelined for two to three months each season.

This resounding success elevated Tous to legendary status, making him one of the key figures in Flick's era. Raúl Martínez also rode the wave, leveraging his influence with several players, especially the Spanish internationals, and the momentum of a team that was flying high.

But in the second season, the turnaround has been radical. The team has suffered a worrying decline in physical condition, and injuries have relentlessly plagued the dressing room. The club views this situation with great concern, resorting to a euphemism, aware that this negative trend must be stopped at all costs.

No one wants to remember Xavi's final year, when the team collapsed at every level, but there's no doubt that the first signs of trouble are emerging. In fact, Tous and Martínez experienced Xavi's final months on the bench. The first was going to be the strength and conditioning coach under Iván Torres' supervision, had the Terrassa-born manager stayed on, while the second was going to have a more prominent role alongside Carlos Nogueira, since Xavi didn't like him only being there one day a week.

The first team's head doctor, Ricard Pruna, also has reason to be overwhelmed: the infirmary keeps growing, with worrying cases like Raphinha, who relapsed just as he was about to be cleared to play.