FC Barcelona star Alejandro Balde appeard to vomit blood and was then stretchered off following a … [+] nasty blow during Saturday’s La Liga clash with Las Palmas in Montjuic.
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FC Barcelona star Alejandro Balde appeared to vomit blood and was then stretchered off following a nasty blow during Saturday’s La Liga clash with Las Palmas in Montjuic.
Left back Balde had only just won his place back in the starting line up after an injury kept him sidelined.
Gerard Martin had taken his spot on the back line for a 2-2 La Liga draw against Celta Vigo on Saturday, plus a 3-0 Champions League win over Brest on Tuesday.
Ahead of the latter fixture, head coach Hansi Flick hinted that Balde could return to action this weekend.
“Balde had some muscle problems, so we thought he would rest. Today he is better but I hope that for the games after Brest he will be an option. He won’t be there tomorrow,” Flick commented at a prematch press conference on Monday referring to the Brest fixture the following day.
Gerard Martin got the nod for Brest ahead of Hector Fort, and provided an assist in an improved performance.
On Saturday, though, Balde indeed returned to the starting XI, but his afternoon was cut short by a nasty shoulder blow to the neck or throat from ex-Barca forward Sandro Ramirez.
Balde fell to the floor and required medical attention. Some stills shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, appeared to show him vomiting blood.
Over The Athletic, one of their Barca correspondents said the Spain international had suffered difficulty breathing.
Balde tried to get up to his feet but collapsed and needed stretchering off.
The home faithful cheered his name as he left the pitch on a gurney, and Balde was replaced by Gerard Martin in the 26th minute with the score still tied at 0-0, as it was at half time prior to Las Palmas scoring just after the interval.
At the time of publishing, there is no news on how serious Balde’s potential injury is and if he might be sidelined yet again.
Yet Flick and Culers will hope it’s nothing that will prevent Balde from being able to travel to Mallorca for a top flight away clash on Tuesday.
