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FC Barcelona have confirmed the injuries of two of their first-team stars in Sergi Roberto and Frenkie de Jong. The club reported that both of them will not be in contention for selection against Sevilla, with no fewer than 23 players selected in the squad for the match-up against Julen Lopetegui's charges.
Barcelona announced Roberto has sustained a rib fissure, while Dutch midfielder de Jong is out due to an overload on his right leg. The club mentioned that both were part of training doing individual, specific exercises while the available players trained normally on the Tito Vilanova pitch.
Barcelona are presently five points ahead of fierce rivals Real Madrid, who have a game in hand. They are set to take on third-placed Sevilla in what is expected to be their toughest test since the La Liga resumption, on Friday, June 19.
Barcelona without four senior first-team players
So far since the restart, Barcelona emerging victorious against both Mallorca and Leganes, without conceding a single goal.
Barcelona took home all three points thanks to a 4-0 demolition of relegation-threatened Mallorca, with Arturo Vidal, Martin Braithwaite, Jordi Alba and Lionel Messi finding the back of the net.
Goals from Ansu Fati and Messi in the following fixture against Leganes were enough to make it two in two, but Quique Setien and his Barcelona side would know full well that an away game at the Sanchez Pizjuan is always a difficult ask.
The assignment becomes further challenging due to the unavailability of two first-team stars. While de Jong only featured in the midfield against Mallorca alongside Sergio Busquets and Vidal, Roberto put in solid shifts at right-back on both occasions.
In their absense, it is likely that Nelson Semedo will take the place of Roberto down the right side of the Barcelona back line, whereas Setien will have the likes of Vidal, Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Arthur Melo at his disposal besides the youngsters at the club.
Setien hailed de Jong, who is gradually finding his feet as a Barcelona player. In his press conference ahead of the game, he said:
"Frenkie is a very good footballer, a kid who gives us many things, but we have other players to replace him and I hope that he recovers as soon as possible."
Barcelona also have Samuel Umtiti and Ousmane Dembele on the sidelines owing to long-term injuries, and Setien provided an update on the former Borrusia Dortmund winger. He stated:
"Dembélé back in August? His recovery is going into the right direction. It remains to be seen if he will be fully fit at the end of the season."
The return of Roberto and de Jong is uncertain, with Barcelona themselves claiming that the 'evolution of each injury will condition their availability.'
Football has returned across Europe successfully in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but players' fitness is proving to be a huge issue for managers to deal with. The strenuous list of fixtures for all teams including Barcelona doesn't look good either.
It'll be interesting to see how Setien shuffles around with his Barcelona side against Sevilla and then in the remaining games.
Barcelona's squad to take on Sevilla
Marc Andre ter Stegen, N. Semedo, Pique, I. Rakitic, Sergio, Arthur, Suarez, Messi, Neto, Lenglet, Griezmann, Jordi Alba, Braithwaite, Vidal, Junior, Inaki Pena, Riqui Puig, Collado, Ansu Fati, Araujo, Saverio, Chumi and Monchu
