Barcelona boss might turn to unexpected defensive pair for Osasuna showdown | OneFootball

With the international break coming to an end, Barcelona are set to resume their campaign on Thursday as they take on Osasuna.

This particular game was supposed to be played earlier in the month but was postponed due to the demise of first-team doctor Carles Minarro.

Heading into this game, Barcelona are sweating on the fitness of their key centre-backs including Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez.

While it seemed initially that both defenders could make it in time for the Osasuna clash, recent reports suggest Cubarsi’s fitness and availability is still up in the air.

Garcia and Martinez to start vs Osasuna?

Amid uncertainty surrounding the availability of Barcelona centre-backs heading into the Osasuna game, Diario SPORT has offered a fresh update.

Eric Garcia and Inigo Martinez are likely to start for Barcelona against Osasuna this week. (Photo by Linnea Rheborg/Getty Images)

The report suggests Barcelona coach Hansi Flick could bank upon the central defensive combination of Eric Garcia and Inigo Martinez this week.

As mentioned earlier, Cubarsi’s fitness is up in the air whereas Ronald Araujo is set to return late from international duty, effectively ruling him out for this encounter. Furthermore, Andreas Christensen has still not achieved match fitness.

Flick, therefore, may have no choice but to rely on the services of Garcia and Martinez at centre-back – two players who have rarely played together.

In fact, Garcia and Martinez have started only once in the past, in the game against Leganes in December. Barcelona ended up losing the game 0-1.

The Catalans will hope that won’t be the case against Osasuna, who were able to score four goals against Flick’s men in the return fixture.