Barcelona will be without the services of three first-team players for Sunday's La Liga clash with Almeria.
Ousmane Dembele and Pedri remain on the sidelines with hamstring problems, while Ansu Fati is unavailable due to the knee problem that he picked up during Friday's training session.
Pedri is expected to be out until at least the middle of next month, but Barcelona boss Xavi had positive news when it came to Dembele and Fati during Saturday's press conference.
"He is fine, yesterday he trained well. He looks fine, but is not 100% ready yet. He's about to be back with the team. It depends on his recovery. We trust his instincts, he's fine and that's important," the head coach told reporters when asked about Dembele.
Meanwhile, Xavi responded: "We hope that Fati will be ready for El Clasico on Thursday," when asked about the Spain international, who suffered the issue on Friday.
© Reuters
Ronald Araujo had emerged as an injury doubt for this match when he was substituted in the latter stages of the 2-1 loss to Manchester United in the Europa League on Thursday night.
However, the Uruguay international has been included in the squad and is expected to start.
Barcelona's elimination from the Europa League has left them fighting for a domestic double this season, with the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final with Real Madrid set for Thursday.
However, Xavi has insisted that his side are currently focusing on Sunday's clash with Almeria.
"In their stadium, they have lost only a few games. It will be a difficult away match. Our focus is on tomorrow's match. Then we will think about Thursday," he added during his press conference.
© Reuters
"When you win the league with a big club like Barcelona, it is a good season. We are now counting on ourselves and we have important matches. If we win the double, it will be a great season.
"We will work so that it does not impact us (the Europa League exit). We have to understand that we are in a good position in La Liga and we are going through a positive momentum."
Real Madrid could only draw 1-1 with Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Saturday night, so a victory for Barcelona in this match would see them move 10 points clear at the top of the table.
The absences of Pedri, Dembele and Fati have opened the door for youngsters Pablo Torre and Angel Alarcon to be included in the squad for the trip to Almeria.
Barcelona squad vs. Almeria:
Ter Stegen, Tenas, Pena; Araujo, Christensen, Alonso, Alba, Kounde, E Garcia, Balde; Busquets, Gavi, Kessie, Roberto, De Jong, Torre; Lewandowski, F Torres, Raphinha, Alarcon
No Data Analysis info
