Barcelona are preparing for El Clasico already following their victory over Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday, and with it keeping a lid on hopes that they may have some of their injured sextet back.
Sergi Roberto, Pedri, Jules Kounde, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Frenkie de Jong are all injured, with the former trio guaranteed to miss the big match on Saturday. Meanwhile Lewandowski and de Jong continued to train individually, as per MD, just 48 hours away from kick off.
The positive news for Xavi Hernandez is that Raphinha did return to training with the group, and the hope is that he could play some part in the Clasico.
🚨 Lewandowski and Frenkie are not yet ruled out for Saturday's game. This morning they have already participated in the rondos, although the rest of the training they have done individually. Raphinha has even played a little game. @fansjavimiguel
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) October 26, 2023
De Jong and Lewandowski are not yet ruled out, but are unlikely to play at this point. The return of Raphinha would open things up a little for Xavi Hernandez. Ferran Torres and Joao Felix are all but guaranteed to start on the left and through the middle, leaving one of his front three spots available.
Fermin Lopez has made his case that he should start, while Lamine Yamal played a full 90 minutes on Wednesday, and starting him again would be a major call for Xavi to make. With Raphinha in the frame, he could at least divide the minutes, and or have more of an option to change things off the bench.
