Barcelona were on song again in their third preseason friendly of their tour of Asia, beating Daegu FC 5-0 in South Korea before they return back to Catalonia. It was a largely positive evening for the Blaugrana, but the sour note was a potential injury to Pau Cubarsi.
The 19-year-old defender was looking in good shape against Daegu, putting in an efficient performance. However with around ten minutes to go, Cubarsi won the ball back and played it off before going to the ground briefly on his hauncches, and feeling his left leg. With just four minutes to go, Cubarsi decided he could not continue, and after being attended to by the medical staff, was substituted for Hector Fort for the closing minutes.
Cubarsi has knee issue
During that period, Cubarsi could be seen rubbing and pointing to the area around his knee, and upper shin. MD have confirmed that is indeed where the pain was coming from for Cubarsi, and that he sustained the problem during a challenge with one of Daegu’s players.
Cubarsí went down with four minutes to go.
Image via FC Barcelona
Barcelona relaxed over Cubarsi knock
Manager Hansi Flick has confirmed that the Blaugrana are not concerned by the injury though. He told the press in the mix zone that it was merely a precaution, and he did not want to risk Cubarsi, but as far as they are aware, it is simply a knock rather than a muscle issue.
Marc Bernal will play his first minutes since suffering his ACL injury against Como in six days time. However, to see him complete a full game, we'll have to wait until November or December. @fansjavimiguel
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) August 4, 2025
The outlook for Barcelona in central defence
Barcelona have one more preseason game on Sunday, with Como visiting for the Joan Gamper trophy. That should give a clearer picture of where Flick stands in terms of his central defence. Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen are both fit, while Jules Kounde, Eric Garcia and Gerard Martin based on the evidence of recent games could all play there too, although as mentioned, Cubarsi is not expected to be injured.
Inigo Martinez is also expected to be fit for their season opener on the 16th of August against RCD Mallorca, but has yet to feature in preseason.