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 Azteca on March 24 (Paramount+), followed by a home game in Orlando against Panama on March 27 before wrapping up the qualifying cycle March 30 on the road at Costa Rica (Paramount+). The Americans are tied with Mexico for second place in the Octagonal table, with the top three teams set to earn a ticket to Qatar 2022 while the fourth-place finisher goes to an intercontinental playoff tie against a team out of the Oceania confederation.
Should Dest sit out these games, look for Berhalter to lean on the experienced veteran DeAndre Yedlin or 23-year-old Reggie Cannon, who got the start for USMNT last time out at home against Honduras (a 3-0 win) and has been a regular fixture for his Portuguese club Boavista. Outside of those two, George Bello recently made his first Bundesliga start for Armenia against Borussia Dortmund on Sunday as a left back and Joe Scally has made consecutive starts for Borussia Monchengladbach. The two are also capable of playing as a wing back should Berhalter switch things up this month.