Barcelona fans had their ire focused on former academy talent Sandro Ramirez, after his attempt to block Alejandro Balde flattened the young left-back. However that quickly turned to concern for Balde, who struggled to return to his feet.
The 21-year-old was down on the floor as play continued holding his neck, which had received the contact from Sandro, seemingly struggling to breath. It looked as if Balde was simply winded initially, but when he tried to stand up again with the help of the Barcelona medical staff, but then dropped to the floor again, seemingly nauseous.
🔵🔴 Asà ha sido la acción que ha provocado el susto y el cambio de Baldepic.twitter.com/4QUW61sBAy
— MARCA (@marca) November 30, 2024
Balde was then seen coughing up blood on the pitch, and was shortly after stretchered off by the cart after as it became clear that he was not OK. As the cart left the pitch, Balde could be seen still coughing violently.
Get well soon Balde. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/TazCDzggFS
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) November 30, 2024
Since, RAC1 have reported that while Balde took a hit to his windpipe, he has now recovered and is doing OK. Provided there are no underlying issues, Balde should be fine for Barcelona’s trip to RCD Mallorca on Tuesday. He was replaced by Gerard Martin after 25 minutes during the Las Palmas game.