Rinse becomes extremely thin for Xavi and Barça due to new absentee


Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 13:24• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 13:25

Xavi has announced Barcelona’s match selection for the Europa League meeting with Napoli. Strikingly absent from the twenty-strong list is Ronald Araújo. The center defender did not come out of the derby with Espanyol (2-2) unscathed and is not part of the selection. For that reason, Xavi only has three central defenders at his disposal. Memphis Depay is also still missing.

Araújo remained in the dressing room halfway through the game against Espanyol on Sunday evening. The defender has an overloaded sole of his foot and has not recovered in time for the game against Napoli. That is a big downer for Xavi, who also does not have access to Clément Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti. The only centre-backs who are part of the match selection are Gerard Pique, Eric García and Óscar Mingueza. Dani Alves is also missing. He is the only acquisition not registered for the Europa League.

Xavi is also thin in the line-up on the wings. In addition to the absence of Alves, the coach also has to miss Sergi Roberto and Alejandro Baldé. Sergiño Dest and Jordi Alba are the only remaining full-backs. Due to the laundry list of absentees, Xavi will probably appear with a defense consisting of Dest, Piqué, Eric García and Alba. The question is how long Eric García can last, as he was sidelined for five weeks with a hamstring injury. Against Espanyol, he came in halfway through the lines for Araújo. Pique also has to be careful. He is suspended for the return in Naples with a yellow card, just like Gavi.

Xavi assured during the closing press conference on Wednesday that he is considering making some changes to his team for the debut in the second European club tournament. ASH Don’t rule out Nico González taking the place of Sergio Busquets, as the latter has played almost everything from the start of the season. Depay will have to be patient for the time being. Like Ansu Fati, he has been out of circulation for some time and will not play on Thursday evening either. There is a good chance that Ousmane Dembele will make his first appearance at the Camp Nou since speaking out about his departure from Barca.



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