Barcelona dealt major Olmo injury blow ahead of Real Madrid clasico

Barcelona will be without Dani Olmo for about a month after the forward suffered a muscle injury during their defeat at Parc des Princes, ruling him out of Sunday’s clasico against Real Madrid and two other key fixtures.

Olmo was forced off in the 27th minute, holding his left thigh in pain, and was replaced by Fermin Lopez. The setback adds to Barcelona’s problems after a physically demanding week disrupted by air-travel problems caused by bad weather.

The club also went into the match without injured defenders Eric Garcia, Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen. Olmo’s absence is now confirmed for the meeting with Real Madrid, as well as the match against Aston Villa on 3 November and the game against Atletico de Madrid on 8 November.

Vitinha challenge blamed for injury

Antonio Perez, widely known as “Fisioteduca” and a prominent physiotherapist working with the DAZN network, gave his assessment of the incident in comments reported by Spanish newspaper Sport.

“Dani Olmo suffered a direct blow. Vitinha caused the injury when he moved his body towards him, stabbing him with a dagger in the inner thigh muscles,” Perez said.

He added: “Dani Olmo was literally injured by Vitinha. He suffered the injury because of a powerful impact, as the Portuguese player’s knee is sharp like a dagger. Vitinha bends his leg and, when he uses his body excessively, he effectively causes a tear in the inner adductor muscle.”

Perez also said Olmo’s own injury history and physical profile were significant factors.

“There are players who might have avoided this injury, but we are talking about Dani Olmo, who has a long history of muscle injuries,” he said. “He is a very vulnerable player during long periods of play when fatigue begins to set in.”

Since returning to Barcelona from Leipzig in August 2024, Olmo has endured a series of fitness problems. They include a right hamstring strain in September, a thigh strain in November, a soleus muscle strain in January 2025, a fibre injury to the right adductor in March, another strain to the right soleus in October and a dislocated left shoulder in December.

Perez described Vitinha’s challenge in the 27th minute as “the final straw” for a player who had been in excellent form. Olmo had ended his scoring drought in Barcelona’s previous match against Real Betis, but the incident against Vitinha has sent him back to the treatment room at a crucial stage of the season.