Dani Olmo is expected to miss Sunday's El Clasico against Real Madrid after a suspected tear in his left adductor forced him off during Barcelona's 4-2 Champions League defeat at Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.
The Spain international lasted only 27 minutes in Paris before Fermin Lopez replaced him midway through the first half, on what should have been a landmark night: the appearance was Olmo's 100th for Barcelona. Instead of a celebration, it ended with the playmaker clutching his thigh and heading straight down the tunnel.
According to AS, the first indications point to a tear in the adductor of Olmo's left leg, with an MRI in Barcelona on Wednesday set to confirm the full diagnosis. If a tear is confirmed, the estimated absence is four to five weeks — a timeline that rules him out of the Clasico and deep into a demanding autumn run.
Flick waits on the scan
Hansi Flick was cautious after the game, and his words offered little comfort. "Olmo took a knock and felt pain. We have to wait," the Barcelona coach said, a line also carried by TNT Sports in its report on a brutal night of injuries in Paris. "We don't yet know how big the injury is, we have to wait and see."
Olmo was not the only star lost on the night. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia suffered a ruptured ACL in the same game, an injury that has since been confirmed as season-threatening for the PSG winger, underlining just how costly an evening it was for both squads. For Barcelona, though, the immediate pain is domestic: the defeat by Paris Saint-Germain was their first of the season, ending an 11-game winning run, and now their Clasico preparations have taken the bigger hit.
The timing could hardly be worse for Flick. Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia were both injured against Real Betis last weekend, leaving Barcelona with fitness concerns in defence as well as in attack, and Olmo's creativity between the lines is precisely what Flick leans on in the biggest games.
So what: Fermin's chance, Madrid's opening
If the scan confirms the early fears, Sunday's Clasico at Camp Nou changes shape. Olmo is Barcelona's link player — the man who receives between midfield and defence, turns, and slides passes into Lamine Yamal and Raphinha. Without him, Fermin Lopez, who replaced him in Paris and impressed, is the obvious next man up, with a point to prove on the biggest stage Spanish football offers.
For Real Madrid, who play RB Leipzig in the Champions League tonight before travelling to Catalonia, the news is an opening they did not expect a week ago. Barcelona still top the early-season story — a perfect league start and goals flowing — but a side missing its No. 10, with defenders already patched up, is a different proposition. Madrid will smell blood, and Mourinho's side rarely need a second invitation.
Olmo's longer absence would stretch beyond one game, too. A four-to-five-week layoff runs into November, covering league fixtures and European nights in which Barcelona must prove the Paris defeat was a blip rather than the start of a wobble.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This is the hidden cost of Tuesday's thriller. Paris took the points, but Barcelona may have lost the Clasico in the 27th minute, long before Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz settled it late on. Olmo is not Barcelona's most famous player, but he is their most connective one — and great sides miss the glue more than the glitter. If he is out for five weeks, Flick's perfect start meets its first real test on Sunday, against the one opponent built to punish exactly this kind of absence.
Can Barcelona beat Real Madrid without Dani Olmo, or does his injury hand the Clasico to Madrid? Have your say in the comments.
