FC Barcelona have added three surprise names to their squad list for Wednesday’s trip to Royal … [+]
FC Barcelona have made a last minute change to their Champions League squad list by adding three names to it.
The Catalans currently top Group H in the elite European competition, and guaranteed qualification to the knockout phase for the first time since 2019 when beating Porto last time out.
Xavi’s men currently have 12 points with the Portuguese and Shakhtar Donetsk trailing on nine going into the last fixture of the group stage.
Those other two teams face off on Wednesday, and were Porto to win by more than two goals while Barca draw or lose at Antwerp, Barca would then finish second on goal difference.
This turn of events would see Barca take on a first-placed foe in the last 16, and possibly a strong team such as Manchester City or Bayern Munich.
When the squad list for the trip to Belgium was published on Monday, it was missing a number of heavyweight names from the first team.
With Xavi Hernandez perhaps realizing the gravity of what is left to play for, and looking at Sunday’s shock 4-2 defeat to Girona as a sign that all is not well at the Montjuic Stadium, he has made a last minute change to his squad list on Tuesday morning.
The list now contains the names of Ronald Araujo, Ilkay Gundogan, and Robert Lewandowski where it didn’t before.
There is still no room on the plane for Frenkie de Jong, however, who is suffering from a fever and will stay in Barcelona to rest.
The Dutchman should return to action on Saturday, when Barca travel to the Mestalla to face Valencia.
Seven behind Girona in the title race thanks to the weekend’s hiccup, Barca cannot afford to drop more points heading into the Christmas break and are level with third-placed Atletico Madrid in fourth.
