Barcelona crying out for Ansu Fati return
The young forward's return can't keep come quick enough for Barça with the all the recent injuries in Ronald Koeman's first-team squad, especially in the attacking department.
For the first time in their Champions League history, Barcelona finished the game without a shot on target against Bayern Munich on Tuesday. Ronald Koeman could only field two strikers: Memphis and new signing Luuk de Jong as they were the only ones available to him.
Koeman went into the game against the German giants without several of his forwards. Martin Braithwaite was the latest to go down and is undergoing knee surgery. The Dane is not expected to return until next year. French winger Ousmane Dembélé is still sidelined and Sergio Agüero has yet to make his debut after picking up a calf injury not long after signing for the club.
Fati's return
Ansu Fati has been out for 10 months now, after also undergoing knee surgery. The Spain international is back in first-team training, but is not expected to be involved in a matchday squad until October after suffering another setback in his recovery.
The club had previously said he could possibly return on Monday 20 September, when Barcelona play Granada at home. AS found out a week ago that the club doctors are managing his recovery, which has been mixed with rehabilitation. This has forced the club to put the brakes on initial expectations.
Fati still has some way to go before he can play and was not in Barça's friendly last Wednesday against El Prat.