Barcelona have had plenty of strife over the past two months with injury, the latest to go down being Gavi with a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear, but they have more problems on the horizon.
The Blaugrana have not beaten Rayo Vallecano in their last four attempts either, and already being without Gavi and captain Sergi Roberto, they may be missing vice-captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen too.
The current Zamora holder left the Germany camp to return to Barcelona with back pain last Friday, and six days later, he still is not training ahead of their journey to Madrid. As per MD, ter Stegen is now a serious doubt for Rayo, with the staff preferring not to force the issue and have him at 100% for their Champions League clash with Porto on Tuesday.
If ter Stegen does not recover in time, then Inaki Pena is likely to deputise in his place. The 24-year-old has scarcely played for Barcelona, but did have an impressive spell at Galatasaray for half a season two years ago. Given the fragility of Barcelona’s defence currently, it is far from ideal to be missing their most decisive player.
