Injury continues to ravage Barça squad ahead of Alaves LaLiga test

Barça head to Vitoria still reeling from the news that Xavi Hernandez will stand down as head coach come the end of the season. Despite trailing league leaders Real Madrid by ten points, the Catalan club have vowed to battle to the end of the campaign and look to maintain the winning way after the midweek win over Osasuna. Xavi does have to contend with eight key absentees (Ter Stegen, Balde, Marcos Alonso, Gavi, Raphinha, Sergi Roberto, João Félix and Ferran Torres) and four carrying knocks (Araújo, Cancelo, Christensen and Lamine). The glimmer of good news for Culès is the return of defender Iñigo Martínez returns after a relapse suffered in the Copa del Rey clash away to Barbastro.

Despite picking up maximum points in the game against Osasuna, the performance was, once again, underpar and the impact of the team building barbeque at Lewandowski’s house failed to transmit to a more fluid performance from the Catalan giants.

Barça’s realistic ambition in the league will centre on securing Champions League football next season but will have it far from easy in Mendizorroza, where Alavés have managed to pull away from the drop zone and are well coached by Luis García Plaza. Ten points from a possible 12 in recent outings and falling to Real Madrid in the final minute will have ‘El Glorioso’ fans believing that Barça will suffer in the cauldron of Vitoria.

Possible FCB starting XI in Vitoria

For the clash in the Basque capital, it appears Fermín will man the midfield and accompany De Jong, Pedri and Gündogan. With the absences of Ferran, João Félix and Raphinha, we may see new signing Vitor Roque partnering up with Lewandowski up front after the Brazilian opened his account against Osasuna on Wednesday.

Possible FCB XI: Peña, Cubarsí, Cancelo, Araujo, Kounde, De Jong, Pedri, Gundogan, Yamal, Fermin/Roque and Lewandowski