FC Barcelona suffered their first defeat of the 2026-27 season at the hands of the reigning European champions, Paris Saint-Germain, in their third UEFA Champions League game. However, even in this loss, the Blaugrana team showed some promising signs.
One of the most notable of these was the performance of the young fullback Xavi Espart, who was entrusted by Hansi Flick to take the right-back spot. Despite his youth, [the youngster impressed in the game against PSG](https://barcanewsnetwork.com/joan-garcia-9-5-gordon-5-5-psg-4-2-fc-barcelona-player-ratings/), even scoring the first goal for his team to make the score 1-1.
However, he was substituted out of the game shortly after scoring his goal, when the game was still quite open, and the Blaugranes were looking for a win. This was quite a surprising decision from Flick, and [Mundo Deportivo](https://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbol/fc-barcelona/20261021/1004241525/xavi-espart-tocado-tobillo.html) now reveals that the youngster was taken off the pitch as a precaution, as he was feeling discomfort in his ankle.
Shortly after leaving the pitch, Espart had a brief conversation with the team’s physiotherapist. For now, it remains to be seen how this physical problem would affect the young fullback, but the report highlights that the Barcelona dressing room is hopeful that he will be available for the upcoming match against Real Madrid.
Hansi Flick will be particularly hopeful that this turns out to be the case, especially as Eric Garcia is also highly unlikely to be available for this Sunday’s El Clasico, while Jules Kounde is also a doubt. Thus, if Espart is also unavailable, the German coach will only have Alejandro Balde and Joao Cancelo to play on the flanks, and the Spaniard has played very few minutes this season.
With the way he has played so far, Barcelona fans would have their fingers crossed as they would be hoping to have Xavi Espart available for such an important game.