Jules Kounde has been ruled out of Barcelona’s final La Liga match before the World Cup against Osasuna on Tuesday because of injury.
The Frenchman picked up a thigh strain in the win over Valencia which was only thought to be minor but has now kept him out of the games against Almeria and Osasuna.
Kounde said as much after the trip to Mestalla, insisting it was not a serious problem but just an overload.
However, he is not in the squad for the trip to El Sadar. Gerard Pique does make the list for one final time as a Barcelona player but it’s not clear yet if he’ll play
It seems Barcelona and Kounde are not willing to take any risks with the defender’s fitness ahead of the World Cup which is due to start in a little under two weeks’ time.