Barcelona star suffering with discomfort ahead of Osasuna clash | OneFootball

Barcelona are hoping to extend their La Liga streak this weekend against Osasuna, but they could be without an important player for the match at the Spotify Camp Nou.

Hansi Flick’s side are, along with Villarreal, the form team in La Liga at the moment, having won their last six matches. They will hope to make it seven on Saturday, and if they do, it would extend their lead over Real Madrid to seven points, ahead of Los Blancos’ trip to Alaves on Sunday.

Barcelona will be without the likes of Ronald Araujo, Gavi and Dani Olmo for the match, and in the last 24 hours, a new doubt has emerged. As reported by MD, Gerard Martin was absent from Thursday’s training session due to discomfort.

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Martin, who has starred as a central defender in recent weeks, has been a starter in five of Barcelona’s last six matches across all competitions. Flick valued him highly in a central role, and it would have been no surprise if his plan was to continue with him in the line-up to face Osasuna, but this could now be in doubt.

Barcelona expect Gerard Martin back in training on Friday

However, it is not an issue that Barcelona are concerned about, with the report stating that Martin is planned to return to training on Friday. If he does so, he will almost certainly be fit and available for the Osasuna match, although it would remain to be seen whether he starts alongside Pau Cubarsi in the centre of defence.

If Martin is unable to start against Osasuna, Flick would have no obvious alternative options: Eric Garcia could drop back from midfield, which would allow Frenkie de Jong to return to the line-up. Furthermore, there could be chances for Andreas Christensen to be handed a rare start.