Barcelona are dealing with more injury problems as youngster Marc Guiu picked up a knock in Barca Atletic’s 1-1 draw against Logrones on Monday (February 5). The 18-year-old striker has now joined a long list of players at the club who are dealing with injuries, as the Catalan giants struggle to defend their La Liga title.
The youngster signaled to the bench after colliding with a defender, but he eventually saw out the game. According to reports from Mundo Deportivo (via Barca Universal), Guiu’s condition was checked afterward and tests showed he had a minor discomfort in his thigh. He may be available for the first-team match against Granada.
Barcelona are currently dealing with quite a few players on the medical table, with Ferran Torres, Joao Felix, and Raphinha all sidelined due to injury. While the latter might be available against Granada, Torres and Felix are expected to be out for much longer.
With Victor Roque picking up a red card in their last match against Alaves, the Brazilian talent will be unavailable to play against Granada. This means the only currently fit first-team attackers to take up the offensive mantle for Barca right now are Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal.
The Blaugrana are currently third in the La Liga table, eight points behind leaders Real Madrid. Their concerns won’t be only in the domestic league, as they have to prepare for their UEFA Champions League round of 16 clash against Napoli towards the end of this month.
Deco has discussed vision for new Barcelona manager
Barca will enter a new managerial era after Xavi Hernandez announced his decision to leave the club at the end of the season. Although he won the La Liga title in his first full season at Camp Nou, the legendary midfielder has struggled to maintain impressive performances this season.
The club are now looking for a new coach, and sporting director Deco has revealed the kind of coach they are looking for. Speaking in an interview with La Vanguardia (via Tribal Football), he said:
“Whoever arrives must follow a line of work and we will hardly accept a team that doesn’t play well and doesn’t want to have the ball. We’ll start from that idea, then every coach has his own characteristics, but whoever arrives must have ambition and hunger to do great things.”
Deco also dismissed claims linking the club with Bologna manager Thiago Motta, while hinting at Barcelona Atleti coach Rafa Marquez:
“Motta? I don’t follow Motta’s work much because he’s not in an Italian team who I usually watch. We follow [Rafa] Marquez because he is here. He is a young coach who is growing despite the difficulties.”
Barcelona will hope their next coach can help them move the club into their next era of success, following Xavi’s fairly impressive reign.
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