Barcelona
midfielder Nico González and forward Martin Braithwaite have been ruled out due
to illness, the Spanish club said on Friday.

In practice,
Nico fractured a toe on his left foot, and Braithwaite tested positive for
COVID-19. The club did not specify how long they expect the two players to be
out. The 20-year-old La Masia graduate has had a breakout season this year,
making the first-team squad under both Ronald Koeman and Xavi Hernandez.

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However, his
playing time has decreased since the beginning of the season, with Xavi
choosing to utilise Pedri, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong, and Gavi ahead of
the Spanish prospect. Nico has made 37 senior appearances for Barça this
season, scoring and assisting on two goals.

For Xavi Hernandez, the 30-year-old attacker isn’t much of a loss. He hasn’t played much under the Catalan since taking over from Ronald Koeman at the end of 2021. Braithwaite has only played eleven minutes since Barcelona’s match against Osasuna on March 13th. 

Barcelona are concerned because a team BBQ was held on Thursday at the Ciutat Esportiva, and Braithwaite was present. The club is waiting on whether any more players respond positively in the coming days.

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 There are only five games remaining in the
season for Barcelona. The squad is currently in second place in the Spanish
league, one point behind Real Madrid, who are a point away from capturing the
title.

On Sunday,
Barcelona will entertain relegation-threatened Mallorca at Camp Nou. They have
now lost three games in a row at home in all competitions, which has never
happened in the same season previously. Injuries have also cost the Catalan
club American defender Sergio Dest and playmaker Pedri González.

In the
meantime, the club announced the extension of Uruguayan central defender Ronald
Arajo’s contract until 2026. On Tuesday, it announced an agreement with the
player.

“I never
doubted that I would stay, and I hope to be here for many more years,” he said.
“We reached an agreement in two meetings. We wanted to do our part to help with
the situation that the club is in right now.”

Arajo, 23,
has scored six goals in 78 appearances for Barcelona.