A lot has changed since the full-time whistle of the last match that FC Barcelona played against Villarreal in La Liga. The Catalans fell to a 5-3 defeat against the Yellow Submarines, and in the press conference after this match, Xavi announced that he would step down from his duties at Barcelona at the end of the season.
Thus, the team will face Osasuna in their next match today with even more uncertainty about their future than was already prevalent at the club. With Xavi’s departure now guaranteed, the team will be motivated to send off the La Liga-winning coach with his pride restored.
However, the injury-related difficulties for the Blaugranes are still increasing, as Joao Felix got injured in training and is out for a considerable period of time. Inigo Martinez, trained with the rest of the team prior to this match, but is not yet fully ready to take the pitch, and is not named in the squad for the Osasuna match.
Even with all the uncertainty and the player absences, FC Barcelona will have to win this match as they are already 11 points behind fellow Catalan opponents Girona and 10 points behind eternal rivals Real Madrid in La Liga.
The squad for this match has been released by FC Barcelona, and as has been the norm for the most part of this season, several players from the reserve side are a part of this squad, including Ander Astralaga, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Casado, Hector Fort, Unai Hernández, and Diego Kochen. The full squad for the Villarreal game is as follows:
Official Barcelona Squad List:
Goalkeepers:
- 1: Inaki Pena Sotorres
- 2: Ander Astralaga
- 3: Diego Kochen
Defenders:
- 1: Jules Kounde
- 2: Ronald Araujo
- 3: Andreas Christensen
- 4: Joao Cancelo
- 5: Pau Cubarsi
- 6: Hector Fort
Midfielders:
- 1: Frenkie de Jong
- 2: Pedri
- 3: Ilkay Gundogan
- 4: Oriol Romeu
- 5: Fermin Lopez
- 6: Marc Casado
- 7: Unai Hernandez
Forwards:
- 1: Robert Lewandowski
- 2: Ferran Torres
- 3: Lamine Yamal
- 4: Vitor Roque
Rested:
- None
Injured:
- 1: Gavi
- 2: Marc Andre ter Stegen
- 3: Raphinha
- 4: Alejandro Balde
- 5: Joao Felix
- 6: Inigo Martinez
- 7: Marcos Alonso
- 8: Sergi Roberto
