Barcelona have been severely hampered by the combination of their short squad and a batch of injuries that have hurt the side over the last months, something Xavi Hernandez is still managing.
Captain Sergi Roberto and star midfielder Frenkie de Jong are still out, and neither will feature against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday evening. Meanwhile Pedri, Jules Kounde, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha are still working their way back to fitness.
As per Sport, Danish defender Andreas Christensen has also been nursing an injury for much of the season. Christensen has discomfort in his Achilles’ tendon which has hampered him for much of th season, and despite featuring in 12 of Barcelona’s 15 games, he has completed just five of them. In big games like Porto and Real Sociedad away, Xavi has opted to use other defenders in spite of his good form.
Currently he is operating at around 80% of his capacity say the Catalan daily, and is working to find his way back to full fitness. The strong competition in central defence is as much a boone as a benefit for Christensen and Xavi.
It is not an issue to rotate Christensen, and be able to rest him now that Kounde and Inigo Martinez are back from injury. However that competition, and the prospect of losing his place, may tempt Christensen to push himself back from injury faster than he would have otherwise so as to stake his claim. One way or another, it’s another element for Xavi to consider when putting together his line-ups.
