FC Barcelona is traveling to Mallorca with a heavily depleted squad for their match on Sunday. With 10 players in isolation due to testing positive for COVID-19 in addition to a lengthy injury list, the Blaugranes only have nine first-team players available for the trip to the Spanish island.
The club recently announced that Sergino Dest, Abde Ezzalzouli, and Philippe Coutinho tested positive for the virus and will thus be required to self-isolate in their homes, as per La Liga protocols. They join Ousmane Dembele, Samuel Umtiti, Gavi, Alejandro Balde, Jordi Alba, Dani Alves, and Clement Lenglet, who all tested positive earlier on in the week.
According to La Liga guidelines, fixtures must go ahead if teams have at least five first-team players available and will have the ability to field a 13-man squad, a requirement that Barcelona is able to meet. The club will have to turn to its B team and academy players in order to fill the remaining positions.
This crisis comes at a challenging time for the Catalan team, which has struggled to hit form this season. The Blaugranes have only managed to come away with one win in their last five competitive games, among which was a 3-0 thumping at the hands of Bayern Munich in the Champions League and a 1-0 loss at home to underdogs Real Betis.
