First Copa del Rey squad of the 23/24 season
Xavi Hernández calls up 21 players for the last 32 clash away to Barbastre
A new competition gets under way for FC Barcelona, none other than the Copa del Rey. The blaugranes travel to the area of Huesca for the first tie in the knockout competition against Barbastro (7 December, kick off 9pm). The Liga win against Las Palmas provided the perfect platform to go into this game with a good mindset and to take one step closer to the big prize.
The Catalan coach will be without João Cancelo, as the Portuguese fullback had to leave the game against Las Palmas after 11 minutes, with subsequent tests confirming he has a strained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. Lamine Yamal is also missing as he is suspended after being sent off in the U19 Copa del Rey last season against Málaga. Should Barça progress to the next round, the teenager would also be suspended for any last tie. Also missing is Alejandro Balde who has a temperature.
The good news is that central defender Iñigo Martínez is back after a hamstring injury. With this in mind, Xavi Hernández named the following squad: R. Araujo, I. Martínez, Ferran, Lewandowski, Raphinha, Iñaki Peña, João Félix, Christensen, Romeu, Vitor Roque, S. Roberto, F. De Jong, Gündoğan, Kounde, Astralaga, M. Casadó, Fermín, Cubarsí, Aron, Pau Víctor and H. Fort.
