Any injury is difficult to accept, but one to a younger player is always more galling. This week we’ve seen two in particular as first Luke Shaw suffered a double leg fracture, then Rafinha tore his anterior cruciate ligament. 

At 20 and 22-years-old respectively, the view could be they have plenty of time to make up for their forthcoming absence. The other angle is though that both players are robbed of precious minutes at a most crucial point in their career. There is also the factor that both Shaw and Rafinha, were beginning to hit their stride after initial difficult episodes at their clubs.

For Shaw, the struggles of a debut season with a heavy price tag hanging over his head were beginning to become a distant memory. His fantastic run against PSV, just prior to the injury, was perhaps a metaphor for his current standing. He had grown in confidence within a difficult regime, and the purposeful gallop showed he still possessed the ability that made him one of the most exciting teenagers in football. Last season he was scared of his own shadow at times - when he actually played that is. Again, dealing with the price paid for him, and difficult levels of adaptation for a player under Louis Van Gaal, were clearly factors.

Van Gaal revealed that Shaw was in tears when the Manchester United players came back into the dressing room, and it seemed the game became irrelevant in a sense after the full-back was taken off. Minds were elsewhere, and the result was secondary.

Rafinha meanwhile can call upon similar doubts in confidence, and difficulties in adaptation, to those Shaw experienced. Any genuinely positive passages of play he produced in his debut season were fleeting, as he struggled to gain the momentum required to become a key player.

Not much of that was on his own back. There is only so much you can achieve with restricted minutes, and arriving into a team cold off the bench or from the stands. Especially one that had found a groove, and went on to achieve success. Rafinha’s been keen to impress with Barcelona, but that enthusiasm often forced errors and lapses in judgement. 

Finally however, Rafinha had been able to gain that momentum. With more regular minutes, and a more level headed approach to games, he was beginning to adjust. These were the most enthusing signs yet that Rafinha could handle the task of breaking into Barça’s set mould under Luis Enrique. A daunting task for anyone, let alone a player still developing as an individual. 

Rafinha’s performance against Atletico Madrid this past weekend was arguably one of his best in a Barça shirt, and you’d have to go back to the game against Villarreal in February of last season to find one that stood up to it. Intriguingly, Rafinha played from a deeper midfielder role in that game, whereas against Atleti on Saturday, he started from a wide right position. He’s very much capable of operating as both, and the versatility is a key factor that Barça will be unable to now call upon.

Rafinha will have big brother Thiago to call upon for support, few know more about the injury curse than him. Little brother will need it too, as pictures showed him looking visibly distressed after leaving hospital late last night, no doubt reacting to the news his worst fears had been confirmed and surgery would be required.

Yes, they are young bodies and they will mend, but it still doesn't take away the pain of the here and now. An injury is never welcome, but encountered so young and in a moment when the player had begun to offer positivity, it's even more bitter to take. Now the long road to recover begins, starting with the surgery and end point, honestly, unknown.

Young players should be on the field with a smile on their face, not in the stands, crestfallen and with crutches at their side.