Barcelona are in serious trouble heading into the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. Set to face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu midweek, Xavi will find himself without some of his biggest names.
Pedri, Ousmane Dembele, and Robert Lewandowski have all been instrumental to the Catalans’ fine form this season and will all miss the match against Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
While the former duo have already been on the sidelines for a while now, Lewandowski was revealed to have joined the injury list earlier today.
Needless to say, this puts Xavi in a fix over the centre-forward position. Yet, there does appear to be a solution on the horizon.
According to reports from Javi Miguel, Ansu Fati will return to the squad for the midweek clash. Thus, the youngster could be best placed to replace the Polish striker on Thursday against Real Madrid.
Fati suffered an injury in training last week, ruling him out of action for Barcelona’s game against Almeria last night. However, given that it was just a minor knock, his recovery has been swift.
Fati will look to use his opportunity to the fullest, for he has found it difficult to start this term under Xavi Hernandez. Lewandowski’s absence might as well be the biggest chance for the youngster to play the full ninety minutes and get a chance to prove his worth.
The 20-year-old has scored three goals and provided three assists in 21 league games for the Blaugrana this term. However, he only started on eight occasions and averages under 45 minutes per game. Fati has scored twice in three games in Copa del Rey.
No date has been given for Lewandowski’s possible return, but it is being reported that he could miss two weeks of action. One hopes that he will be back in time for Barcelona’s Clasico on March 19th at Spotify Camp Nou along with Pedri and Dembele.
