Barcelona receive major blow hours before Atletico Madrid as midfielder is ruled out | OneFootball

Barcelona will face Atletico Madrid at 21:00 CEST at Camp Nou, in what is being billed as a major clash in terms of the title race. The Blaugrana returned to the top of the table over the weekend, holding a one-point advantage over Real Madrid, but Atletico have now moved within three of the Blaugrana themselves, and could head top with a win.

The Catalan giants have been hit with a major blow just hours before the game though. In addition to Gavi, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Fermin Lopez and Ronald Araujo, Frenkie de Jong will not be available for Hansi Flick. The Dutchman missed their clash with Alaves due to personal reasons, but was in contention to start against Atletico.

De Jong to miss Atletico Madrid clash with fever

However on Tuesday afternoon, Barcelona named their squad for the Atletico game without de Jong in it. MD say that de Jong has a fever, and thus is unable to play. The news comes as something of a surprise, as he trained as normal on Monday morning before the game, with no suggestion he was ill.

Image via Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Hansi Flick must rejig plans for Barcelona midfield

De Jong has been key for Barcelona this season, and was due to begin the match alongside Pedri and Dani Olmo, with Fermin Lopez out currently. Flick now has a major conundrum on his hands as to how to line up. He could move Olmo backwards in an attempt to accommodate Raphinha behind the striker and put Marcus Rashford out wide.

More likely is a start for Marc Casado, Eric Garcia or Andreas Christensen in midfield. The former is the most natural option, but has been out of form of late, while Garcia is perhaps his best choice, but was due to start in defence. Christensen has not started a game since late September, while Marc Bernal made his first start in 14 months on Saturday.