Barcelona Suffers Devastating Injury Setback Hours Before Crucial Villarreal Showdown
Barcelona will be missing central defender Andreas Christensen for Sunday's match against Villarreal after the Danish player sustained an injury during practice ahead of the fixture.
Before the squad's last training session, coach Hansi Flick addressed reporters to announce that midfielder Pedri would be unavailable for the clash between first and third place in La Liga, though Barcelona's most significant concerns are in their defensive line.
According to AS, Christensen received a severe knock to his knee and hobbled off the training pitch on Saturday afternoon, promptly being ruled out of the Villarreal encounter, leaving Flick's center-back options extremely limited.
With Ronald Araujo absent from the squad due to personal matters, Christensen's unavailability leaves Flick with merely three senior center-back possibilities. Pau Cubarsí and Eric García represent the only genuine choices, while left-back Gerard Martín has impressed when deployed centrally throughout this campaign.
Barcelona management allegedly tried to conceal Christensen's recent injury by withholding the squad announcement for Sunday's match, though the Dane's non-appearance when the team reached their accommodation confirmed his exclusion.
This represents a significant setback for Christensen who, as reported by Mundo Deportivo, is struggling to demonstrate his reliability as he seeks to secure a contract extension at Camp Nou.
Santi Comesaña: I Think Barcelona Will Lose
Despite their injury concerns, Barcelona will approach Sunday's fixture with optimism. The Blaugrana haven't suffered an away defeat to Villarreal since October 2007.
Villarreal midfielder Santi Comesaña, nevertheless, expects that run to come to an abrupt halt.
"We're a strong side, we're demonstrating that in the championship, and we must continue showing it against Barça," he informed AS. "It's preferable that they visit now.
"If we haven't triumphed in 18 years, eventually that run must conclude. Eventually, Barcelona will suffer defeat in Villarreal, and I believe it will happen this Sunday.
"We've already demonstrated in our recent visits to Barça's stadium that when they control possession, we perform better in those circumstances."