Jules Kounde suffers hamstring injury, likely to miss El Clasico

Jules Kounde sustained a hamstring injury while on international duty, and Barcelona has confirmed that he is now questionable to face rival Real Madrid next month.

Thursday’s 2-0 victory over Austria in the Nations League saw Kounde play just 23 minutes before pulling up and being replaced by William Saliba.

Barcelona confirmed that Kounde had tests and would now be out for a while in a statement issued early on Saturday.

“Tests on Saturday morning have confirmed that Jules Kounde has a biceps femoris injury in his left hamstring. As a result he is unavailable for selection until he recovers,” the statement read.

Kounde’s recovery has not been given a public timetable by Barcelona, but AS reports that he will likely miss their match against Real Madrid on October 16.

Prior to that trip to the Santiago Bernabeu, Barça will also play Inter twice in the Champions League, and near the end of October, they will host Bayern Munich.

Kounde is now in a race against time to recover in time for the World Cup this winter, joining Ronald Araujo of Barça on the treatment table after suffering a thigh injury while playing for Uruguay. Memphis Depay, Ousmane Dembele, and Frenkie de Jong will also be watched after discovering similar issues while serving abroad.

Barcelona have won five of its first six games this season while drawing one, and they are two points behind Real Madrid in the La Liga standings.