Barcelona star drops out of squad for Villarreal clash due to injury

Barcelona face off against Villarreal on Sunday afternoon in an eagerly-anticipated La Liga showdown at La Ceramica. Hansi Flick’s side are hoping to make it eight league wins in a row, although they will have to do so without another of their defensive options.

Ronald Araujo misses out again as he continues his leave of absence, and now Barcelona have dropped down to three central defensive options for the trip to Castellon. As per MD, Andreas Christensen has been ruled out of the match against Villarreal after he suffered a “fortuitous mishap” at the end of Saturday’s training session.

Christensen, who was off the back of an impressive performance in midweek against Guadalajara, took a heavy blow to his knee, as reported by Diario AS. Worryingly, it’s noted that Barcelona are concerned about a significant lay-off period for the Denmark international, who has had numerous injury problems during his time in Catalonia.

Barcelona now without five players for Villarreal clash

Christensen’s absences means that Barcelona will be without five players for Sunday’s match. Araujo, Gavi and Dani Olmo were already ruled out, but in the last 12 hours, it has been confirmed that Pedri will also be unavailable alongside Christensen, with the midfielder suffering with discomfort.

The likelihood is that Christensen would not have started against Villarreal, with Flick being high on the centre-back partnership of Pau Cubarsi and Gerard Martin. Nevertheless, his absence is a blow, especially consider the notable lack of depth that Barcelona have in the defensive department.

It remains to be seen how long Christensen is sidelined for. Barcelona will be hoping that he is available after the winter break, but the early signs suggest that the defender could be ruled out for longer than hoped – which may prompt a venture in the transfer market for sporting director Deco.