After struggling against Athletic Club, FC Barcelona still has a taxing road ahead of them. The Catalan giants are still yet to face their other opponents, across different competitions. However, the game and result against Athletic will definitely leave scars for Barcelona.
La Blaugrana needed a victory at the San Mames, one that would have been vital to their season. Ultimately, however, they could muster nothing more than a goalless draw. Moreover, Barcelona also ended up losing two of their most key stars in the clash as well in the form of Pedri and Frenkie De Jong.
With both midfielders injured in the same game, Barça are left in a state of panic. Xavi’s team relied heavily on their core midfield to play the way they want to play, and will now need to find alternatives to help the team shine again.
As per SPORT, Barcelona have a few different options to do so. In terms of how effective these options are, there is not a lot of hope but all Barcelona can do is wait and see. First comes the option of the first team itself, and things do not look very promising.
Apart from Ilkay Gundogan and Andreas Christensen, both of whom seem to be guaranteed now, Barça has the likes of Fermin Lopez, Sergi Roberto, and Oriol Romeu to count on. The available trio of Spaniards has hardly been the most convincing, but they will have to make do.
Moreover, if Xavi wants to stick to his four-man midfield system, the reality of things begins to look even more dire. On the other hand, Barcelona could always deploy a standard 4-3-3 with another forward like Joao Felix or Ferran Torres, and not worry about a false winger altogether.
Another option for Xavi, however, is to look towards the quarry. Names like Marc Casado, Unai Hernandez, Pau Prim, and Marc Bernal really stand out as emerging talents of the future. Their explosions have been immense, and it only seems like a matter of time before they feature for the Barcelona first team.
