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Barcelona and USMNT defender Sergino Dest was forced to leave Thursday’s Europa League round of 16 second leg against Galatasaray with what appeared to be a hamstring problem. The right back hobbled off the field grabbing the back of his left leg following a challenge with Kerem Aktürkoglu and was replaced by Ronald Araujo in the 56th minute of Barca’s come-from-behind 2-1 win in Turkey.
With the win, Barca remain unbeaten in their past 11 matches in all competitions and move on to the quarterfinals of the Europa League, with the draw set for Friday, which you can stream on Paramount+. More importantly for the short term, Dest could be an injury doubt for Barca coach Xavi Hernandez ahead of this weekend’s El Clasico and for United States men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter ahead of three make-or-break World Cup qualifying games in Concacaf next week.
Berhalter will name his squad for those games later Thursday, just hours after Dest exited with an injury. It wouldn’t be surprising at all to see Dest’s name on that list when it’s announced given that we don’t yet know the diagnosis of the injury. You have to imagine Berhalter will have the flexibility to cut Dest, a player he has started six times in the qualifying cycle, and replace him should he miss more than a week’s worth of action.
The Americans have been hit hard with injuries ahead of Concacaf qualifiers, notably with Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie (foot) and New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner (foot/ankle) going down. Manchester City backup keeper Zack Steffen is also working his way back from a shoulder injury.
The United States will take on Mexico at the…
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Source : cbssports
