João Félix is a major doubt for the first leg of Barcelona‘s round-of-16 Champions League tie against Napoli after spraining ligaments in his ankle in training on Tuesday.
Félix, 24, could be out for around a month, sources suggested to ESPN, with Barça due to travel to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples on Feb. 21. The second leg is scheduled for March 12 at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona.
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Since joining on loan from Atletico Madrid in August, Félix has featured regularly for Barça this season, scoring seven goals in 28 appearances.
Barça will also be without Alejandro Balde for the rest of the season after the left-back underwent surgery on a hamstring injury.
Balde was operated on in Finland on Tuesday and will be sidelined for around four months, so he could potentially still feature for Spain at this summer’s European Championships if selected.
Félix and Balde join an ever-growing list of absentees for Barça coach Xavi Hernández, who announced at the weekend he will leave the club in the summer.
Gavi is out for the rest of the campaign with an ACL tear and Marcos Alonso is also missing for the foreseeable future after undergoing surgery on a back injury.
Raphinha and Sergi Roberto are also injured, but Xavi is hopeful of having defender Iñigo Martínez and goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen back soon.
“Iñigo won’t be ready for Osasuna on Wednesday but he will be available for Alavés at the weekend,” Xavi said.
The Barcelona manager also revealed centre-back Andreas Christensen has been playing with discomfort to help the team.
“We will maybe have Marc back for Granada in LaLiga [on Feb. 11].”
Following Saturday’s shock 5-3 loss at home to Villarreal, Barça welcome Osasuna to the Olympic Stadium before travelling to Vitoria to face Alavés.
They then play Granada at home and Celta Vigo away before facing Napoli in their first Champions League knockout tie since 2021.