FC Barcelona are now preparing to face off against their upcoming opponents from Belgian, Royal Antwerp. The Catalan giants will welcome the Belgian champions to the Montjuic Stadium for their first game of the UEFA Champions League Group stage.
Barca have already released their 21-man squad list for the upcoming clash as well. The list mostly does not include many surprises given that most players make their return from the squad that faced off against Real Betis.
However, as highlighted by Spanish outlet SPORT, Barcelona have indeed one name in the squad that continues to have the faith of Xavi Hernandez at his back moving forward. 20-year-old Marc Casado makes yet another appearance in the Barcelona first-team squad while Unai Hernandez returns to the subsidiary.
The talented midfielder from the Barcelona subsidiary continues to earn his way under the wing of Xavi Hernandez, whereas Unai Hernandez returns to Rafa Marquez with Barcelona Atletic. Despite the latter having been present against Betis in the squad list, he could not end up featuring for La Blaugrana.
Casado, on the other hand, has already debuted with Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League last season. Featuring against Viktoria Plzen in the 2022/23 edition of Barca’s UCL campaign, the 20-year-old will be looking forward to making an appearance once more if the chance presents itself.
Technically gifted and considered to be one of the rising stars from within the younger ranks of Barcelona, Casado has all that it takes to become a prominent feature in the future. Primarily a defensive midfielder, many even touted him to be the solution for the pivot problem at Barca.
Already a trusted player within the dynamics of the first team, Casado retains the faith of Xavi Hernandez and undoubtedly has a future ahead of him. He is also a captain within the subsidiary and there is much faith in his capabilities as a whole within Barcelona.
