Barcelona Faces Villarreal with Limited Squad and New Setback
Barcelona resumes its La Liga campaign this Saturday against Villarreal (18:30 CET) with depleted forces after the recent exertion in San Mamés against Athletic in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals. The squad is also severely limited due to an infirmary full of players.
In the Copa del Rey clash against the Lions, Barcelona played with three youth players for an extended period. However, Xavi will have to overcome another setback against the Yellow Submarine, as he will be without the services of Sergi Roberto.
The captain has experienced muscular discomfort in the last few hours, ruling him out of the squad against Villarreal. While not a full-fledged injury, these discomforts prevent him from being at his best and also jeopardize his participation in the midweek match against Osasuna (Wednesday, 19:00 CET), originally postponed due to the Supercopa de España.
Sergi Roberto joins the absentee list alongside Ter Stegen, Gavi, Marcos Alonso, Balde, Iñigo Martínez, and Raphinha. This absence limits rotations at a time when some players need a break due to the high number of minutes they have accumulated.
This setback is unrelated to the calf injury in his right leg that kept Sergi Roberto out for about a month in November. He is expected to reintegrate into group training in the coming days.
