In the dressing room of FC Barcelona do not win for scares. With such a short squad – 16 players available from the first team – any eventuality is received as a real cold water jug. And even more so if this eventuality is not for a justified cause or for a training incident, already worrying enough, but for an activity outside the club's premises.
The first to skip all the protocols and internal codes was Arthur Melo. The Brazilian did not think of anything other than playing against Atlético de Madrid (0-1) in Wanda on December 1, going to celebrate Andorra's victory, accompanied by his compatriot, goalkeeper Neto. So far nothing criticizable. The problem is that the Brazilian midfielder took advantage of his visit to the Andorran country to enjoy his ski resorts practicing ‘snowboarding’. A totally prohibited activity for a soccer player, and even more if you have a history of pubic injury. In fact, a few days later, the player had to stop because of a galloping pubalgia. Obviously you can't just point out the practice of ‘snowboarding’ with the injury, but it certainly didn't help to remedy it either. When Ernesto Valverde learned of this getaway, through TV3, he mounted in anger, especially since it was not the first time that the player had skipped the discipline of the club: the previous year he had traveled to Paris without permission to enjoy the birthday party organized by Neymar when there were only two days left to play a Real Madrid-Barcelona Cup.
But after Arthur's incident it seems that not all players have learned the lesson. And it is that a few weeks ago the Junior Firpo defense was presented with the inflamed left hand and with significant erosions and abrasions. The surprise of the technicians, in this case Quique Setién and his second, Eder Sarabia, was enormous, especially since few days after Jordi Alba's injury to Getafe, Junior was presented as the only alternative on the left wing. When asked how he had done it, the player was forced to acknowledge that it was during a go-kart race, an activity that although it is not strictly prohibited, its practice is limited to the summer season.
Fortunately, everything remained in a mere anecdote, since Junior Firpo could play against Eibar and Naples without major problem, although he did wearing a spectacular bandage on his left hand.