BARCELONA
Will Vitor Roque play for Barcelona against Barbastro in the Copa del Rey?
The Brazilian made his debut in Barcelona’s win over Las Palmas and came on in the second half as Barça squeezed past Barbastro.
Barcelona narrowly overcame Las Palmas in their recent LaLiga game which was marked by the debut of their long-awaited signing, Vitor Roque, who arrived earlier in the month from Athletico Paranaense in the Brazilian first division.
The striker, at just 18-years-old, came on for Ferran Torres on 78 minutes and left a few good impressions, coming close to scoring in the final moment of the game with a shot that skimmed the outside of the post from close range. Now, against Barbastro in the Copa del Rey Round of 32 (Sunday, January 7, KO 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT.), Xavi has the chance to give his new attacker some much-needed game time in the blaugrana shirt.
Barbastro are a team from Spain’s third division, known as the Segunda Federación, and are located in Huesca, in Spain’s north east. They play at the Estadio Municipal de Deportes which has a capacity of just 5,000 and will welcome the LaLiga side who reached last year’s semi-finals, losing out to Real Madrid 4-1 on aggregate (0-1, 0-4).
Barcelona injury update
Alejandro Balde, despite trying until the last minute, did not make it onto Xavi’s squad list for the game due to physical issues. Íñigo Martínez, however, has recovered and looks set to start in the side that will likely see a lot of rotations. João Cancelo is also injured and will not feature. Pedri, Gavi, Ter Stegen and Marcos Alonso are all out with longer-term injuries.
Lamine Yamal is perhaps Barcelona’s most notable absence: the winger is suspended for two games after seeing red last season in the Copa Juvenil against Málaga.
Barcelona squad for the game against Barbastro:
GOALKEEPERS
Iñaki Peña
Astralaga
Arón
DEFENDERS
Sergi Roberto
Koundé
Cubarsí
Araújo
Christensen
Íñigo
Fort
MIDFIELDERS
Romeu
Frenkie
Gündogan
Casadó
Fermín
ATTACKERS
Ferran
Raphinha
Lewandowski
Félix
Vitor Roque
Pau Víctor
Will Vitor Roque play against Barbastro in the Copa del Rey?
It is being reported by some media outlets that Vitor Roque is set to start the game against Barbastro, which would make sense given the fact that Xavi saw him as ready to feature in a LaLiga game which forced Barcelona to stage a dramatic comeback in the last minute with Roque on the pitch.
The game between Barbastro and Barcelona will be played on Sunday, January 7, with kick off at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT.