Barcelona are set to again be without the services of a number of important players for Saturday's La Liga clash with Celta Vigo, including Lamine Yamal, with the Spaniard not yet recovering from an ankle problem.
Yamal was absent fort Barcelona's 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad before the international break due to an ankle issue, and he also missed out on Spain's final two matches in the group stage of the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League.
The 17-year-old's issue is not serious, and he will be back either before the end of the month or in early December, but this weekend's contest with Celta comes too soon.
Robert Lewandowski trained on Thursday, though, so the striker, who did not represent Poland during the international break due to a back problem, is set to lead the away side's line in this clash.
Ferran Torres is also back in training after overcoming a hamstring problem, but Ansu Fati, Eric Garcia, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Marc Bernal, Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo are unavailable through injury.
Dani Olmo is expected to come back into the XI after starting on the bench against Real Sociedad, with the Spain international potentially operating off the right due to the absence of Yamal.
The club are still being careful with Gavi due to the length of his recent absence, so the Spaniard is likely to start on the bench, but it will surely not be long before he is back in the XI on a regular basis.
There are not expected to be any major surprises in the Barcelona side, with Inaki Pena currently the number one goalkeeper due to Ter Stegen's absence, while Marc Casado has been in outstanding form this season and should continue in central midfield.
Barcelona possible starting lineup: Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde; Casado, De Jong; Olmo, Pedri, Raphinha; Lewandowski
> Click here to see how Celta could line up for the match
Matt Law
