FC Barcelona are training for their upcoming La Liga match against Villareal. However, the Catalans would be without the services of Ronald Araujo, who suffered an injury in training and is thus out for at least one month.
Meanwhile, Inigo Martinez started training with the group for the first time in his Barcelona career, but he is unlikely to feature in this match as he would still need some time to get 100% fit and hasn’t been registered yet.
Likewise, Marcos Alonso won’t be an option for Xavi due to his pending registration. Thus, Barcelona would have a scarcity of resources for their backline in this match.
Alvaro Cortes one of the youngsters training with the first team
For the match against Villareal, Xavi has called up two youngsters from the Barcelona B team to train with the first team.
The most notable of these two names is that of Noah Darvich, a 16-year-old attacking midfielder, upon whom Barcelona has bet heavily by paying €3 million fixed to Freiburg, but this price can go even further if the variables are met.
The second youngster training with the first team, as SPORT reports, is Alvaro Cortes, a left-footed center-back, who stands out due to his ability to come out victorious in most of his duels and to control his defensive space effectively.
Cortes at Barcelona Atletic
Alvaro was brought to Barcelona as a cadet from Real Zaragoza. He spent the last season on loan at Damm, as Oscar Lopez ( Barca U-19 head coach ) believed that playing in a lower-level team would allow Cortes to get more minutes and thus help him in his growth and development.
However, since his return from his loan spell, he has been training with Rafa Marquez’s Barcelona Atletic team. He has also participated in all the pre-season matches of the B team, including the last one against Valencia Mestalla.
One of the factors that has allowed Cortes to train and play with the Barcelona Atletic team is the absence of Mikayil Faye. The Senegalese is currently in his country to solve some bureaucratic issues, and till he returns, Cortes would benefit from playing in his stead.
