Barcelona will lose Abde for a month for the Africa Cup of Nations

At the start of the season, no one would have expected that Abde Ezzalzouli’s month-long absence could have any impact on Barcelona’s first team. However, the 20-year-old has struggled to carve out a place in the squad and has appeared in the last eight league games. He has made five consecutive starts in the starting eleven.

Abde Ezzalzouli has become an important element for the weakened Blaugrana, which is why his nomination for the Africa Cup of Nations could be problematic for Xavi. But it will be a chance for the winger to make his debut for the national team.

The tournament is scheduled to start on January 9 and Morocco will play its first match a day later. However, it can be expected that Abde will have to attend training camp much earlier. The length of the 20-year-old’s absence depends on his team’s progress.

Morocco will be favourites to advance from the group ahead of Ghana, Gabon and Comoros. Especially since two teams will advance directly and another has a chance to make it to the knockout stage, with the four third-placed teams also going through.

The group ends for Morocco on January 18. Barcelona will therefore miss Abde in the games against Mallorca (2 January in La Liga), Linares (5 January in Copa del Rey) and Granada (8 January in La Liga).

Abde’s departure could be much longer. The eight-finals will take place from January 23 to 25, the quarter-finals are scheduled for January 29 and 30, the semi-finals on February 2 and 3 and finally the final on February 6.

Should the Moroccan national team reach the final stage, one of this season’s discoveries could miss the clash with Alavés (23 January), the possible Copa del Rey quarter-final (2 February), as well as the league clash with Atlético (6 February).

What will be all the more interesting for Xavi is how he deals with the winter transfer period due to the health of his strikers. It’s not only Barcelona that may lose out at the Africa Cup of Nations. Sevilla will lose three players during this period – Bono, Munir and En-Nesyri. There has even been talk of suspending the tournament due to a pandemic.

Abde stands out in Barcelona especially with his dribbling. The winger looks great in this respect even compared to Vinicius. According to the Sport newspaper, based on data from the last match, the Brazilian managed 55 dribbles in 1,432 minutes on the field. His success rate in this respect is 49.5% and he is successful on average 3.5 times per 90 minutes. In Abde’s case, it is 31 dribbles in 481 minutes with a success rate of 58.5%. That means he gets past his opponent an average of 5.8 times per game.

There is a chance that Barcelona and the Moroccan national team could agree that Abde will not travel to the tournament. If an agreement is reached, it will be up to the player to decide whether he chooses club or national team.

Source:: fcbarca.com