Jules Kounde played down fears of a long-term injury after he was substituted in Barcelona’s 1-0 victory over Valencia on Saturday night, indicating his problem was muscle fatigue.
The Frenchman was replaced by Gerard Pique in the 74th minute with the game still goalless before Robert Lewandowski popped up with a winner in second-half stoppage time.
Barça are already without Ronald Araujo until after the winter World Cup, with Eric Garcia being the other centre back who started at the Mestalla.
Speaking after the game, Kounde seemed unperturbed by the knock but added that organisers must start to think of players due to the workload and amount of games.
He told L’Equipe: “I think it’s just an overload, nothing serious. They [the organisers] should think a little more about the players. There are a lot of matches. We are sliding down a crazy path, wanting to play so many matches. But those at the top are obviously not worried.”
Kounde is now a doubt for Barça’s final Champions League game of the season at Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday, though Xavi’s side are guaranteed to drop into the Europa League after a bitterly disappointing campaign.
A potential injury absence could through open the door again to Pique, who has been out of favour so far this season, starting only three league games.
France manager Didier Deschamps will also hope for a quick recovery for Kounde, given he already faces a mountain of injury issues ahead of the World Cup in Qatar this winter. N’Golo Kanté and Mike Maignan are out and there are further fears over Lucas Hernandez, Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane.
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