Xavi has revealed Barcelona’s battered match squad for Sunday night’s away game against Real Mallorca. The Spanish trainer is unable to access a large part of his selection due to corona infections, various injuries and a suspension. In total, Xavi will therefore travel to Mallorca with nine field players from the first selection. The selection has eleven players with playing minutes in the main squad of Barcelona. Eight players from Barcelona B are part of the match selection.
Xavi cannot rely on Dani Alves, Jordi Alba, Álex Balde, Ousmane Dembélé, Gavi, Sergiño Dest, Philippe Coutinho and Abde Ezzalzouli against Mallorca, due to a positive corona test. Furthermore, Sergi Roberto and Martin Braithwaite are missing due to long-term injuries and Pedri, Ansu Fati and Memphis Depay cannot be called upon. Sergio Busquets has to miss the game due to a suspension. LaLiga rules state that a match may not be postponed until five or fewer players from the A-squad are available.
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For that reason, Xavi has included eight players from Barcelona B in the selection. Jutglà, Álvaro Sanz, Arnau Comas, Mika Mármol, Guillem Jaime, Lucas de Vega, Ilias and Estanis Pedrola are all part of the match squad for the Mallorca game. Ferran Torres is not yet part of the match selection. He is still injured and not yet registered for LaLiga. The good news is that Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti are in the group. They have passed a negative test to the Spanish authorities at the last minute and are eligible to play.
Xavi furious about ‘competition distortion’: ‘I don’t understand it’
Xavi is not happy with LaLiga’s decision to let the match between RCD Mallorca and Barcelona go on ‘normally’.
In the run-up to the duel with Mallorca, Xavi expressed his dissatisfaction with the state of affairs. During the press conference on Saturday afternoon, the coach spoke about ‘competition distortion’ due to the large number of absentees at Barcelona. “You have to act with common sense, this is the reality. We will play if LaLiga forces us to play. But it is a chaotic situation. We are in an extreme situation. Now is the time to postpone a game because this is competition distortion. I don’t understand it.”
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