Barcelona coach Luis Enrique will field as many youth players as the rules permit when his depleted side travel to third-tier Villanovense in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday night.
Missing in action
The Catalans have suffered several injuries of late with Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Rafinha all out. Coupled with their Fifa transfer ban over two windows for signing under-age European players, their resources are severely stretched.
Youth will be served
“My intention is to use as many youth players as possible and I would have liked to use more,” Luis Enrique told a news conference yesterday ahead of the first leg of their last 32-tie. “The rules though state that we have to field seven first-team players and that is the situation. It would have been better that more players didn’t have to travel.”
Not skipping a beat
Despite having to soldier on towards January, when they will be able to call on new signings Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal, last season’s treble winners are joint-leaders in Primera Liga with Real Madrid and top their Uefa Champions League group.
Neymar and Suarez to rest
Barca start the defence of the Copa they won last May against Athletic Bilbao with a tie brought forward due to Barca’s participation in the Club World Cup in December. Neymar and Luis Suarez, who scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 La Liga win against Eibar at the weekend, are among the first-team regulars left out of the squad to face Villanovense.
Stepping up to adversity
Enrique said he was pleased with the way his side had coped with the challenges facing them this season. “My job is to deal with the obstacles that you come across during a campaign and that is what we are doing,” he said. “Situations are always changing and we are proud with our capacity to overcome these problems.”
Waiting on Mascherano
Barca are also waiting to hear the length of the ban Javier Mascherano will receive after being sent off against Eibar on Sunday for verbally abusing an assistant referee. The Argentine could face a four-match suspension.
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