tag

Barcelona, the reigning Spanish league champions, announced Monday that their international Dutch midfielder, Frenkie de Jong, has sustained an injury. The club stated that the player has a minor injury to the obturator externus muscle in his right thigh. De Jong had left his national team's training camp last Friday, just a few hours after participating in their 1-1 draw against Poland in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, a match he was forced to leave in the 83rd minute. The midfielder may miss Sunday's match against Valencia in the fourth round of the league, which is Barcelona's first home game of the season. De Jong joins midfielder Gavi, who is receiving treatment for a knee issue, and left-back Alejandro Balde, who is sidelined for three weeks after suffering a hamstring tear in his left thigh during training.

The draw for the unified group stage of the 2025-2026 UEFA Champions League will take place on Thursday, in Monaco, France.The same procedures as last season will be adopted, featuring a league phase comprising 36 teams in a single group.Twenty-seven teams have already secured their qualification for the competition based on their league standings, along with the winners of last season's Champions League and Europa League, and seven teams that advanced from the qualifiers.The teams have been divided into four pots based on their UEFA coefficients, starting with Pot 1.Each team will be drawn individually, and then eight opponents will be selected for them via UEFA's automated system.Pot 1 includes reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain (France), Real Madrid (Spain), Manchester City (England), Bayern Munich (Germany), Liverpool (England), Inter Milan (Italy), Chelsea (England), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), and Barcelona (Spain).Pot 2 features Arsenal (England), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Atletico Madrid (Spain), Atalanta (Italy), Villarreal (Spain), Juventus (Italy), Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), and Club Brugge (Belgium).Pot 3 comprises Tottenham (England, Europa League winner), Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands), Napoli (Italy), Sporting CP (Portugal), Olympiacos (Greece), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Slavia Prague (Czech Republic), Bodo/Glimt (Norway), and Marseille (France).Pot 4 includes Monaco (France), Pafos FC (Cyprus), Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan), Galatasaray (Turkey), Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium), Athletic Bilbao (Spain), and Newcastle (England).The remaining four teams for the league phase will be determined later today through the second leg matches of the qualifying round.