Eric Garcia of FC Barcelona
Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images
In a few hours, FC Barcelona take on Newcastle United in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round-of-16 tie at St James’ Park.
Ahead of the game, though, the Blaugrana have been handed a major blow as a key player for Hansi Flick could be sidelined.
Indeed, according to Mundo Deportivo, Eric Garcia is a serious doubt for tonight’s match against Newcastle United.
The versatile defender is dealing with muscle discomfort, which could rule him out of the game scheduled for 21:00 at St James’ Park.
His absence would be a significant setback for coach Hansi Flick, who may need to reorganise the defensive line.
Barcelona are already without two regular starting defenders in Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde, both of whom suffered hamstring injuries earlier this month in the game against Atletico Madrid.
Ronald Araújo of FC Barcelona
Araujo to replace Garcia? (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
If Eric Garcia is rendered unavailable for the game, Ronald Araujo is primed to replace him in the Barcelona starting lineup.
The Uruguayan international has not featured prominently since returning after his mental health break, but could get an opportunity at St James’ Park.
One option for Flick will be to start Araujo at right-back as a direct replacement for Eric Garcia, while keeping Pau Cubarsi and Gerard Martin at centre-back, with Joan Cancelo on the left.
An alternative would be to move Cancelo to his natural right-back slot, while pairing Araujo with Cubarsi at centre-back and starting Martin on the left.
Flick would only have two reserve defenders from the youth team available on the bench: Alvaro Cortes and Xavi Espart.