BARCELONA
Barcelona left with just one fit attacker
Griezmann is the only attacker Barcelona have healthy with Messi a doubt and Luis Suárez and Ousmané Dembélé out injured for the Real Betis game.
Barcelona's squad for the 2019-20 season is not complete and they have been handed a warning before the window closes regarding their planning. They currently have one healthy attacker in Antoine Griezmann. Without Coutinho in Munich, Valverde has just four attackers to count on heading into the season.
Luis Suárez is injured after going off against Athletic Bilbao on Friday night in the first half. At 32, Suárez suffered a knee injury at the end of last season and underwent knee surgery and with Messi also suffering from a calf injury, Valverde's options are limited. He did not train on Monday but could still be available to play against Betis at the weekend.
Dembélé is out for five weeks now to add to Valverde's woes. Eric Abidal and Ramon Planes are unsure if the current squad is deep enough to compete on all fronts this season. They could add players from the reserves but there are doubts about that course too.
Carles Pérez and Abel Ruiz are the two obvious choices but their futures are unclear. The B coach, García Pimienta, counts on the first more than the second mentioned but the club don't want to take this route. Riqui Puig is another player in the B team that could play on the left in a crisis but he is more comfortable playing in the middle.
The Neymar case remains open and Barcelona have decided to make a formal bid for the player according to reports. The plan this summer was to sign a number nine and a player who could operate in any position in attack (Rodrigo was one of the players they had earmarked). With one loss in their first game, they are already on the back foot but with a couple of weeks left in the transfer market, they have to figure out if they are confident in the player they have or if they need to add to the squad.