Athletic Club Bilbao: Xavi Hernandez has a juggling act to carry out when FC Barcelona entertain Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday night.The game comes just three days before Barca host Real Madrid in the first ‘Clasico’ of the season on Saturday evening, meaning that his side have 24 hours less to prepare for the tie than their rivals.
That would not be such an issue if Xavi had a full squad to choose from, but Barca host Shakhtar with a host of key players on the sidelines. Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, Raphinha, Pedri, Sergi Roberto and Frenkie de Jong are all injured and although all but Kounde and Sergi Roberto have a chance of being fit for Saturday, none look likely to play on Wednesday.
Xavi was once again forced to use players from the Barca youth system to make up the numbers in their narrow 1-0 win against Athletic Club Bilbao on Sunday, with Ferran Lopez in the starting 11 and 17-year-old striker Marc Guiu coming off the bench to score the only goal of the game.
Apart from Guiu’s headline making goal, the good news for Xavi was Inigo Martinez’s solid display in defense against his former club, while Alejandro Balde and Lamine Yamal both played after returning with knocks from international duty.
Xavi must be tempted to rest Balde on Wednesday, with Marcos Alonso starting at left-back, while Lamine could start against the side from Ukraine, who have three points from two games in their qualifying group.
Ronaldo Araujo is also likely to play after coming on as a substitute on Sunday night and he could slot in at right back to rest Joao Cancelo for the weekend.
Consecutive wins mean another win for Barca should see them avoid the humiliation (and financial cost) of crashing out of the Champions League at the first stage for a third consecutive season and Xavi will want to assure the three points, but with Barca just a point behind Real Madrid in LaLiga, the Clasico is looming large on the horizon.