Vini Jr has proven he belongs among the world's elite

The Ballon d'Or moves ever closer for Vinicius Jr

Adeyemi's missed chances ultimately doom Dortmund

Madrid are inevitable! Carvajal & Vini Jr the UCL heroes

Earps injury haunts Lionesses as England fail France test

Richards hits out at lawyer over claim he is Keane's 'puppy'

Clubs fear FIFA want to cut Premier League to 18 teams 

'Scolded him a little!' - Ancelotti reveals what he told Vinicius

Another record for Messi! Inter Miami star makes MLS history

UCL winners Bellingham & Haaland given same Dortmund message

Ronaldo wants two ex-Real Madrid team-mates at Al-Nassr 

Article continues belowArticle continues belowArticle continues below<ul><li>Frenkie de Jong injures ankle</li><li>Taken off the field by medical cart</li><li>Pedri subbed off in tears moments later</li></ul><script type="application/json" data-placement="fcplayer-semantic">{"type":"fcplayer-semantic","data":{"embedCode":"//cdn.fcp.codes/embed-code-template/embed-code-template.js#SEMANTIC_5704afb8-c10b-4ba5-9cb4-d7fb6098ef90"}}</script>

Nightmare for Barcelona! Frenkie de Jong carted off Athletic Club pitch after nasty fall before tearful Pedri suffers new injury blow as Xavi dealt huge scare ahead of Champions League showdown with Napoli

Netherlands international De Jong went down in agony after an awkward landing as he contested for a header with Athletic Club's Unai Gomez. As the medical team tended to his ankle, it seemed as if the midfielder might be able to walk off the pitch, but soon went back down and had to be taken off the pitch on a medical cart.Head coach Xavi and Barcelona saw their troubles further compounded as Pedri had to be subbed off just before half-time, after the Spaniard seemed to tweak his hamstring during a clearance.

WHAT HAPPENED?

De Jong's ankle injury seemed a lot more serious than Pedri's muscular issue. Both men will undergo tests with the club's medical team when they return to Barcelona, with Xavi sweating on the fitness of two key players at a crucial stage of the season.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

As per <a href="https://twitter.com/fansjavimiguel/status/1764392654547169465?t=CXp-kawKdYqJHu9wkx0i5Q&amp;s=19" target="_blank">Diario AS</a>, Pedri is likely to be completely ruled out of Barcelona's Champions League round of 16 second-leg clash against Napoli on March 12 after a relapse of a thigh problem, while De Jong is set to be a major doubt. Barca have now lost three of their four main midfielders to injury and may be forced to dig even deeper into their academy to plug the holes.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Catalan side will next be in action when they take on Mallorca on Friday, March 8 as they look to chase down Real Madrid in the La Liga title race. They still have nine days before they host Napoli but Xavi will be forced to field a significantly weakened team if De Jong and Pedri do not recover in time.

WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?

Nightmare for Barcelona! Frenkie de Jong carted off Athletic Club pitch after nasty fall before tearful Pedri suffers new injury blow as Xavi dealt huge scare ahead of Champions League showdown with Napoli | Goal.com

Frenkie de Jong was taken off via a medical team cart after suffering an injury against Athletic Club before Pedri also limped off for Barcelona.