Barcelona star suffers ACL injury against Rayo Vallecano, set to be ruled out until 2025 - Reports 

Barcelona midfielder Marc Bernal has reportedly torn his ACL and isn't expected before 2025. The 17-year-old sustained the injury during the 2-1 La Liga win at Rayo Vallecano on Tuesday (August 27).

Having come up through the ranks, Bernal made his first-team debut for Barca this season - under new boss Hansi Flick - starting all three league games. However, the teenager tore his ACL and had to come off in the ninth minute of stoppage time.

In a hard-fought game at the Estadio de Vallecas, Unai Lopez fired the hosts in front after 24 minutes. However, Pedri responded for Barca at the hour mark before new signing Dani Olmo - making his club debut - grabbed an 82nd-minute winner to confirm all three points for his side.

However, victory was soured by the news of Bernal's injury. As per transfer guru Fabrizio, the young Spaniard faces months on the sidelines, with Barca expected to make a formal announcement on Wednesday.

Flick didn't sound too optimistic about Bernal's injury, saying (as per Barca Blaugranes):

“Nobody in the dressing room is happy. Marc Bernal’s situation doesn’t look good. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

While reports in Catalonia say that Bernal has suffered a season-ending left knee injury, tests will ascertain the exact extent of damage sustained by the player. Meanwhile, with the win, Flick's side are atop the La Liga standings after three games.

---

"We expected a difficult match but managed to win" - Barcelona manager Hansi Flick

New Barcelona manager Hansi Flick was all praise for striker Dani Olmo, who has arrived from RB Leipzig after guiding Spain to Euro 2024 glory in Germany last month.

Admitting that his team struggled before the break, Flick said that they improved in the second half and that Olmo enjoyed a 'great' outing. He said (as per Mundo Deportivo via Barca Blaugranes):

“That’s why (Dani Olmo) is on our team. The first few minutes were not good for us. We didn’t press well. We couldn’t make any combinations, but, in the second half, the team and Dani played a great match.

“When you look at the results from the last few years, we expected a difficult match, but tonight we managed to win. In the second half, we made good combinations, and we got three more points, and it’s now nine out of nine.”

Barcelona next take on Real Valladolid at home on Saturday (August 31), hoping to extend their perfect start to the season ahead of the September international break.