After their last victory in La Liga over Valencia, Barcelona are set to return to action this weekend as they face Girona, a team against whom they will be battling for the second position in the five remaining La Liga games.
La Liga is now the only competition in which Xavi’s team is alive, but this matchday can also see Real Madrid clinch the title if the Merengues win against Cadiz, and Barcelona are unable to get a single point against Girona.
Other than Frenkie de Jong, and the long-term absences of Alejandro Balde and Gavi, the rest of the team was expected to be available for Xavi for this key game. However, this is no longer the case as SPORT reports that the Brazilian striker, Vitor Roque, is suffering from an illness and was unable to train with the team this Friday.
The striker is not totally ruled out for this upcoming game, but there are doubts about his ability to participate in this game after missing the training session. However, even without this illness, the chances of Roque starting this game were already minimal.
This is especially the case after Lewandowski’s hat-trick against Valencia, which has catapulted the Polish striker back into contention for the Pichichi.
Thus, with Roque unavailable, Xavi can decide to call up Marc Guiu from the subsidiary for this match. The Spaniard is currently focused on his duties with the reserve team, but the Brazilian’s absence can force him to get back into Xavi’s team. If Guiu is not called up, Ferran Torres will be the only option to replace Lewandowski in this game.
This illness is the latest setback for Roque, who is not having an easy time in the last few weeks. He has been unable to get too many minutes on the pitch, and has also been linked with a move away on loan, despite him not too keen to leave so soon after arriving at the club.
