Barcelona suffer injury blow after El Clasico defeat to Real Madrid

Barcelona's woes did not end with a 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in El Clasico, they also lost a player to injury. Ronald Koeman's injury troubles do seem to be going away after the manager was left without Pedri, Ronald Araujo and Ousmane Dembele for the game against the Santiago Bernabeu outfit.

Frenkie de Jong is the latest player to land in the treatment room after aggravating a hamstring injury. The Dutchman played 77 minutes of the game against Real, but was not at his best before being replaced by Sergi Roberto.

According to Spanish media outlet Sport, the midfielder was carrying a hamstring injury prior to the game and has now aggravated it. De Jong is now expected to miss Barcelona's midweek clash against Rayo Vallecano and potentially the visit of Deportivo Alaves next weekend.

The 24-year-old has been ever present in Koeman's midfield this term and his absence is certainly going to hurt the Dutch coach in the upcoming games. Barcelona have struggled with their midfield this season after first failing to sign Georginio Wijnaldum and then losing Ilaix Moriba to Red Bull Leipzig.

De Jong's absence is compounded by the the loss of Pedri, who has missed a number of games owing to a thigh injury. The Spain international is expected to return to training this week, but it is unclear if he will be available for the game against Vallecano.

In what could be a major boost for the former Everton coach, there are claims that Dembele could be available for selection having returned to training after recovering from the knee injury that has kept him out thus far this campaign. It will be a much needed boost for Koeman's ailing offense that failed to shine against Carlo Ancelotti's team on Sunday.