The upcoming match against Atletico Madrid is one that will be of great importance to FC Barcelona. The Blaugranes have been fighting all season to, at the very least, aim for the top two places in La Liga. Now, Barcelona have a real chance to do it if they can manage to beat Atletico Madrid.
However, things are much easier said than done in the world of football. Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid will undeniably be a difficult team to overcome, even more so at their home ground. Yet, that is not all that Barcelona will have to worry about heading into this game.
As highlighted by SPORT, Barcelona are going to have to suffer against Atletico Madrid with one great casualty. That specific casualty comes in the form of Portuguese fullback Joao Cancelo, who is not present within the squad list that has been released to take on Atletico Madrid.
From what the club has clarified about the situation, not much has been disclosed. A brief statement stating that the Manchester City loanee is suffering from physical problems is all the information that has currently been disclosed to explain his absence from the game.
There is no telling just how severe or damaging these “physical problems” are going to be. All that is certain for now is that Joao Cancelo will not be present for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid. A big loss, and one that will be hard to compensate for, but Barcelona do have some options.
Hector Fort has emerged on several occasions in the past to offer Barcelona some comfort on the left flank. He is a great option to potentially start against Atletico Madrid tonight. Moreover, both Sergi Roberto and Marcos Alonso are also available for deployment, and the option of Inigo Martinez starting there is possible as well.
Originally, Cancelo arrived to provide quality on the right flank of the defense. However, with Alejandro Balde’s unexpected injury coming into the equation, he has since mainly been playing as a left-back. With Cancelo out as well now, Xavi’s options are stretched quite thin for the match against Diego Simeone’s resilient side.
