FC Barcelona were eliminated from the Copa del Rey in their last match as they fell to a 4-2 defeat against Athletic Club in a match that went to extra time.
With this loss, the Catalans have lost out on two trophies for this season, i.e., the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey. Now, the focus of Xavi and his players will all be on the two competitions in which Barcelona remains in contention, i.e., La Liga and Champions League.
However, as things stand, Barcelona’s chances of winning the former of these competitions are not exactly shining, as they currently trail the league leaders, Girona, by eight points. The Catalans will have another test coming up in the league as they face Villarreal at the Montjuic this Saturday.
Barcelona will still be missing some important players like Marc Andre Ter Stegen, Gavi, Inigo Martinez, Sergi Roberto, and Marcos Alonso for this match. Alejandro Balde will also join these players in the infirmary, as he had to leave the match against Athletic Club with an injury. However, Joao Cancelo can make his return in this match.
In fact, the Portuguese has been named in the squad announced by Barcelona for this game. In addition to Cancelo, several youth players have also been called up by Xavi, including Astralaga, Cubarsi, Guiu, Fort, Casado, and Kochen.
The full squad for the Villarreal match is as follows:
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
Forwards:
- 1: Robert Lewandowski
- 2: Joao Felix
- 3: Ferran Torres
- 4: Lamine Yamal
- 5: Marc Guiu
- 6: Vitor Roque
Rested:
- None
Injured:
- 1: Marcos Alonso
- 2: Gavi
- 3: Raphinha
- 4: Marc Andre ter Stegen
- 5: Inigo Martinez
- 6: Alejandro Balde
- 7: Sergi Roberto
