Thomas Vermaelen, bless him, has had some rotten luck with injuries since leaving Arsenal for Barcelona in 2014.
It’s been so bad, in fact, that the Belgian defender had only made a grand total of 11 league appearances for Barca prior to this weekend (he was on loan at Roma last season, mind).
Though he had managed a rare start for the club in a Copa Del Rey cup meeting with Real Murcia last month, his last league start was way back in January 2016.
Despite this, on Sunday evening the stars aligned so that Vermaelen could make a return to the Barca starting line-up. A suspension to Gerard Pique, coupled with an injury to Javier Mascherano meant that the 32-year-old was selected to partner Samuel Umtiti at the heart of the Barca defence for their top of the table clash with Valencia.
Needless to say, many watching were surprised to see him featuring…
https://twitter.com/Julius_Caesar14/status/934892767322476544
How Vermaelen is still on #Barcelona. I'll never know
— Sam (@samriahi831) November 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/nanoescaliente/status/934870174297141249
https://twitter.com/hashkhan_/status/934888716828577793
Vermaelen still plays for Barcelona?
— Adnan Salman (@adnan2205) November 26, 2017
Blimey. Thomas Vermaelen is playing for Barcelona tonight. I forgot he was still there!
— jason nisse (@jasonnisse) November 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/dylanwalsh_/status/934875338382995458
https://twitter.com/sashi_2/status/934871497918861312
https://twitter.com/davidcanham/status/934871193533992960
