Piqué passes the test halfway: he can only play undercover

There is still no final decision on Gerard Piqué. As we anticipated in AS, the Catalan center-back tested himself this Thursday in the team's morning session to check the pain threshold he could bear in his right knee. The conclusions at the end of the training were completely contradictory: the pain is maintained, but with a lower intensity, what allows to open a door to the possibility that finally the Catalan central receives the discharge and enters in the summons for the Classical.

In any case, the only option for Piqué to play against Real Madrid this Saturday is to infiltrate his right knee, in order to mitigate the pain and that you can play in the best possible conditions. Infiltration is to assume a very high risk of a new relapse or worsening of the sprain of the internal lateral ligament, since the 'puncture' is an analgesic against pain, but in no case does it improve the injury, so it could be counterproductive.

The decision will be made by the technicians, the doctors and Piqué himself at the end of this Friday's session, since the player himself has asked to test himself again, hoping that the pain in the knee will continue to subside.

In any case, the antecedents suggest that Ronald Koeman is not willing to take more risks. Especially after the information that ensures that the Dutch coach was not satisfied with his commitment to advance Piqué's return deadlines so that he could play the first leg of the second round in the Champions League against PSG. According to these sources close to Koeman, Piqué was lacking in rhythm and took a step back on the defensive line for fear of being overtaken, which threw the team into the Ter Stegen area, with dire results for the team.

So that, Given all these circumstances, it seems very difficult for Piqué to be in Valdebebas on Saturday, especially considering that in a week Barcelona will have a Cup final and that the team is working quite well on the defensive line, and even more so after the bet on the three centrals, and with the wild card Ronald Araújo in the chamber.

In addition, Koeman recovers for the Clásico an important piece on his board, especially for his versatility: Sergi Roberto. The Reus will finally receive discharge this Friday and will enter the call after being two more months off due to a relapse. In fact, the youth squad's numbers this season are especially discreet: 12 games and 889 minutes, with the aggravation that in the last four months he has only played two games and none completely: Athletic (23 minutes) and Granada (56).