Ronald Araújo is ruled out for the Europa League debut this Thursday against Napoli at the Camp Nou. The Uruguayan international, who did not go out this Wednesday to exercise with the rest of his teammates, continues to work against the clock to recover from muscular overload in the soleus of his left leg. However, as AS has learned, the objective of the medical services is no longer to recover him for this Thursday’s match, where he has already been ruled out, but rather the challenge is that he may be available for the LaLiga match against Valencia in Mestalla next Sunday.
Thus, with Araújo out of the game, Xavi only has three central defenders to face the premiere in Europe: Gerard Hammered, Eric Garci’a and Óscar Mingueza. Apart from the almost certain loss of the Uruguayan center-back, we must also add that of the Brazilian international Dani Alves, who cannot play in the Europa League as he was the one sacrificed among the four reinforcements of the winter market.
And to these two important casualties we must also add that of the central defenders Samuel Umtiti and Clement Lenglet, in addition to Sergi Roberto and Alejandro Balde. Thus, Barcelona comes to this game with a total of five casualties in defense. Finally, neither will Memphis Depay and Ansu Fati, who complete the list of absences for the game against Napoli.
In any case, Xavi has many alternatives ahead of the Europa League debut, at least from midfield up. With Adama in an exceptional state of form and Ferran Torres as a fixture in the Spanish coach’s system, the doubts point to the third leg of the offensive trident, since although the bet so far has been Gavi in these last two games (Atlético and Espanyol), the ownership of the Gabonese Aubameyang cannot be ruled out. It seems more difficult for Dembélé to start from the beginning, especially since Xavi will not want to cloud the positive atmosphere in the stands by playing at the Camp Nou and fear a general booing of the player by the fans.