The newspaper "Sport" indicated that Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona coach, decided to seek the help of players from the youth and reserve teams in order to find an alternative, even if temporarily, for Gavi in the next stage.
The Catalan club is preparing to face Rayo Vallecano on Saturday in the Spanish League, which is the first match after the recent international break, which saw Gavi suffer a cruciate ligament tear that will keep him out of the field for more than 8 months.
Five names of young players who can play in midfield and replace Gavi participated in the Blaugrana training on Thursday evening, namely Alex Garrido, Casado, Unai, Mikael, and Angel Alarcón, in addition to the player of Moroccan origins, Mohamed Mokhles.
Mokhles, 23, is a player who joined Barcelona last January from Andorra. He plays in the reserve team, and his potential has emerged recently after he scored a goal and assisted 7 others during 32 matches in the Catalan jersey so far.
Mokhles is known for his short stature, but despite that, he is distinguished by his high spirit and his ability to steal the ball and pass well. He also has a long history with the Spanish youth national teams and has graduated among them in recent years, so he possesses many of the same characteristics that distinguished Gavi and made him one of Barcelona’s stars in the last two years. .
On a related note, it seems that Barcelona will lose a number of its players in the Rayo match, led by the duo Rafinha and Ronald Araujo, as they feel exhausted after a long travel trip from South America to Spain following the end of the international break.
Araujo and Rafinha participated in the Uruguay and Brazil qualifiers in less than a week, in addition to the long distance to return to Barcelona, so it is most likely that Xavi will give them a rest from the Rayo match so that they are fully prepared to play the most important match against Porto.
At the same time, Ter Stegen is close to missing the Rayo match due to his back injury, as he did not participate in training for the third day in a row, and Xavi does not intend to risk him so that he can rely on him in the decisive match against Porto.
It is noteworthy that Barcelona will face Porto on Tuesday in the fifth round of the Champions League groups, and each of them has 9 points, while Shakhtar comes in third place with 6 points, and the loss of the Blaugrana to the Portuguese club will make its situation difficult in its attempt to break the knot of the groups and qualify for the round of 16.
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