Opponent watch: Eight Villarreal players ruled out of Barcelona clash, two more doubts | OneFootball

FC Barcelona travel to El Madrigal this weekend as they take on Villarreal in their final match before the Christmas break.

Despite La Liga’s best efforts to have the match played in Miami, USA, the proposal was met with strong opposition, forcing them to cancel the plans and continue with the game being hosted at Estadio La Ceramica.

Going into the match, Barcelona have a near full-strength squad, with Gavi, Dani Olmo, and Ronald Araujo the only players unavailable.

However, the situation is worse for their opponents for this weekend.

Eight players out for Villarreal

Indeed, according to AS, as many as eight Villarreal players have been ruled out of the match against Barcelona, while two more are doubts.

The Yellow Submarine, who are third in the league table, have had to deal with mental setbacks of late, having been knocked out of the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey.

Piling on the problems is the number of absentees heading into the crucial clash against Barcelona, with eight players unavailable.

Juan Foyth is one of the absentees for Villarreal. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

Logan Costa and Willy Kambwala remain sidelined due to long-term injuries, while Santiago Mourino and Thomas Partey are also unavailable for the home team.

Moreover, Ilias Akhomach and Pape Gueye have been called up for the Africa Cup of Nations, ruling them out of the weekend clash as well.

In addition, Juan Foyth and Sergi Cardona are both ruled out after picking up injuries in the Copa del Rey defeat against Racing Santander, taking the total count of unavailable players to eight.

Two more doubts

Beyond that, veteran stars Gerard Moreno and Dani Parejo are both seen as doubts for the match against Barcelona.

There is some hope that Parejo can be available, having recently returned from an injury and not risked himself in the cup tie.

As for Moreno, the forward has only had two training sessions after recovering from a muscle injury recently, which makes him a doubt for this match.

Given the situation, Villarreal manager Marcelino finds himself in a difficult situation as he prepares his team for a high-profile clash against Barcelona.