Barcelona defender’s availability for Espanyol clash remains in doubt | OneFootball

After their two amazing victories over Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in their last two matches, FC Barcelona are set to return to action on Sunday with another big match, the Barcelona derby, in which they will face Espanyol.

The Blaugranes are already preparing for this game, and their latest training session ahead of this match took place today.

As Mundo Deportivo has reported, the 23-year-old defender Eric Garcia continued to work away from the group during this session, and thus he is highly unlikely to be available for this upcoming game.

The Spaniard suffered from a muscular overload right before the game against Sevilla and was unable to participate in the games against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid as well due to this problem.

Meanwhile, several notable faces from the youth ranks participated in the session led by Hansi Flick at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper on Friday. Among these youngsters was Andres Cuenca, who could be called up by Flick for the game against Alaves to cover for Eric Garcia.

Following the two demanding matches against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, the German tactician may rotate his line-up for this game. One player likely to earn his first start of the season is midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who impressed with his second-half performance against the Merengues.

Similarly, summer arrival, Dani Olmo, may also start this game after fully recovering from his physical issues. More indications about Flick’s team for this game will come tomorrow, when the last training session ahead of this game will be conducted.