Spain Under-21 boss David Gordo has explained why Barcelona midfielder Marc Bernal dropped out of the squad after being called up following his return from a knee injury.
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick warned
the team to “be careful” with Bernal and that he “isn’t ready to play many minutes” as he’s only just back from a long lay-off.
It was then swiftly announced that Bernal was out of the squad, and Gordo has now spoken about the situation.
“Marc Bernal was included in the squad, and in the end, FC Barcelona sent us a medical report indicating he was experiencing discomfort. He’s recovered well, which we’re very happy about because he’s an important player. He wasn’t able to be with us this season, but possibly in the next window, if everything is normal and he’s working well and in good condition, he’s a player we could call up. Football has these processes: sometimes there are discomforts and it takes time to recover,” he told reporters.
“It’s normal, it doesn’t keep us up at night, and we’ve done our job. The Federation’s medical services are always in contact with the medical services of all the clubs. There’s very good communication, and they came to the conclusion that it was best for Marc to rest these days because it would be very good for him to recover from the discomfort he was having in his tibia, because he had periostitis, which is what the medical report sent to us by FC Barcelona said.”
Bernal has since been spotted in Barcelona training and will be aiming for first-team minutes in the coming weeks. He’s made just two substitute appearances so far this season as Barca try to ease him back into action after a serious injury.
