And without Frenkie de Jong, what now? Xavi's alternatives
Frenkie de Jong's injury was the worst news of Barça's comeback against Celta at Montjuïc, a 3-2 win. The Dutchman could be out until November, a setback that leaves Xavi without one of the team's most in-form players. De Jong will miss seven Barça matches: Mallorca-FCB (26-09), FCB-Sevilla (29-09), Porto-FCB (4-10), Granada-FCB (8-10), FCB-Athletic (22-10), FCB-Xakhtar (25-10), FCB-Madrid (28-10).
De Jong's injury comes at a time when Pedri is still in the midst of the recovery process. Barça's hope is that he will be fit to return in mid to late October. The match against Athletic Bilbao on 22 October will be the first post-selection fixture. This means that Xavi will not be able to count on either of them for the next few games.
Right now the coach has Oriol Romeu, Gavi, Gündogan, Joao Félix, Fermín and Sergi Roberto in midfield. In addition to these, there are several wild cards: Ferran Torres, who already knows what it is like to occupy Joao Félix's position, Cancelo, who played the second half against Celta and Casadó, who is between the reserve team and the first team. We should not rule out even an experiment with Christensen using the 'Stones formula' at City (a centre-back converted to a midfielder accompanying the midfielder).
As of today, Romeu, Gavi, Gündogan and Joao Félix would be the four players in the first team.
