Four Barcelona players at risk of missing upcoming league El Clasico due to yellow card accumulation | OneFootball

The 2024-25 season has reached its most decisive stretch, and FC Barcelona remain one of the very few teams in Europe that are still in contention for all the big trophies.

In two of these competitions, the Catalans will have to get over their most heated rivals, Real Madrid, to get their hands on the trophies. In fact, there are two upcoming El Clasicos that can seal the fates of the two teams in La Liga and Copa del Rey.

The first of these El Clasicos is scheduled to take place this Saturday, as the two teams face off in the Copa del Rey final. Then, the two Spanish giants will once again take to the field against one another on 11th May, in a crucial La Liga game.

However, tonight’s game against Mallorca can have a significant impact on Hansi Flick’s team selection for both of these games.

The case for the Copa final is pretty simple, as Flick will have to manage the minutes of his players tonight to keep them fresh and sharp for the game against Real Madrid.

But, as Mundo Deportivo has reported, there will be up to four Barcelona players, i.e., Raphinha, Inigo Martinez, Jules Kounde, and Gavi, who will play this game against Mallorca with 4 yellow cards, and another yellow card can see them getting suspended for the next league game.

This next league game will be against Real Valladolid, which is the lowest-placed side on the table, and can be a pretty easy opponent for the Blaugranes. But if these four players do not get a yellow card tonight, but do so playing against Valladolid next week, they will be suspended for the league classic against Real Madrid.

Thus, Flick will have two options to avoid such a possibility. One would be to try to get these four players a yellow card tonight so they can play against Valladolid with a clean slate.

Secondly, Flick can decide to keep these players away from the pitch for the Valladolid game even if they are not suspended, so they do not run the risk of getting a yellow card and missing a crucial league game against their arch-rivals.

For now, it remains to be seen which alternative Flick will take, or whether he will not even try to avoid such a possibility, showing full confidence in his team.