Barcelona’s preparations for Thursday’s Copa del Rey clash with bitter rivals Real Madrid continue to be disrupted by injury.
The Catalan giants slipped to a 1-0 defeat to Almeria at the weekend, just three days after crashing out of the Europa League at the hands of Manchester United.
Those dropped points fortunately weren’t punished by Real Madrid in the La Liga title race – they were held to a 1-1 draw by neighbourhood rivals Atletico on Saturday – but there was further bad news for Xavi following confirmation of a hamstring injury sustained by Robert Lewandowski.
How long Lewandowski will be out for is unknown at this stage, but the 34-year-old was missing from training on Tuesday as Barca prepare to take on Real at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final clash.
Ousmane Dembele and Pedri also missed the sessions, as did young winger Ansu Fati, who continues to be dogged by injuries.
“We hope that Fati will be ready for El Clasico on Thursday,” Xavi had previously told the media about Fati, but he did not take to the training field as Barca look to get back to winning ways after a difficult week.
Fati has filled in on the odd occasion that Lewandowski has been absent this season, so the burden of expectation may fall to former Manchester City forward Ferran Torres if the Spaniard is unable to prove his fitness.
He could be flanked by Raphinha and Gavi in a makeshift front three, potentially supported by a midfield trio of Frenkie de Jong, Franck Kessie and Sergio Busquets.
