After the international break, Barcelona will play Athletic Club on Sunday to start their season again.
But with so many injuries plaguing the team, the Champions League matchup with Shakhtar Donetsk could be the one to watch, particularly in terms of lineup decisions.
Balde and Yamal, who are expected to play against Shakhtar Barcelona, now have up to seven players out with injuries, including Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, and Robert Lewandowski.
However, according to Diario SPORT, two of Barça’s younger players, Alejandro Balde and Lamine Yamal, were likely to be eligible for the match against Shakhtar Donetsk.
Xavi Hernandez may benefit greatly by both players’ availability for the Champions League match, even though they both have slight injuries.
Before the Shakhtar match, Balde and Yamal warmed up (Photo by PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images).(
But both are still questionable for the match against Athletic Club, which may mean that Xavi has to make some changes to the starting lineup.
Lewandowski and De Jong were ruled out in full
Referring to Barcelona’s next three games as “Tourmalet,” Diario SPORT claims Lewandowski and de Jong are all but guaranteed to miss out. Barcelona plays Athletic Club, Shakhtar, and Real Madrid.
This is because both players are recovering from major injuries, making them 90% ruled out of these games. This might be quite problematic for Xavi.
While Xavi may decide to rest a few players in order to focus on the Real Madrid match, Barcelona is expected to have other players available for the Shakhtar match.
Ronald Araujo is one of the players that is probably going to get a rest against Shakhtar. The defender, who just made his 13-month absence from the Uruguay national team, will need some time to recover before facing Real Madrid later this month.
