The situation
Xavi Hernández will face Thursday’s game against Villarreal at the Camp Nou with the same men who ended up losing on Sunday at the Bernabéu. The Blaugrana coach does not recover any cash for the next game, since both Memphis Depay and Héctor Bellerín do not arrive on time. In fact, as AS has learned, both are expected to be fully recovered for Sunday’s match against Athletic at the Camp Nou. Thus, Xavi will have to face this vital meeting during the week without the presence of Araújo, Christensen, Bellerín and Araújo. Apart from these last two, the Danish central defender is also facing the final stretch of his recovery and could already be available for the match against Bayern Munich on October 26. Unfortunately, the one who still has many deadlines to burn is Araújo, whose return is not expected until the end of the year. Under these difficult circumstances, Xavi will have to recover a team emotionally damaged after being virtually eliminated from the Champions League and being stripped of the leadership in less than a week . Now they face two transcendental matches at home where much more than points is at stake, since the image of Xavi’s project has been greatly weakened in recent games. The first step will be to raise the morale of the locker room, literally through dreams, and the second, to re-engage the team in the dynamic of the good results, which since the national team break has faded in a very dangerous way.
The details
The only positive conclusions from the Clásico and with a view to the next matches is that Jules Koundé showed that he is fully recovered and that both Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres are beginning to show signs of improvement in their game . Three players who could play a relevant role in the upcoming matches, especially after the poor performance of players like Piqué or Raphinha.