Barca short of midfield options for PSG second leg after double suspension blow

It may have been an excellent night for Barcelona at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday, as they secured a 3-2 lead going into next week’s return leg at home, but the effects of that encounter with Paris Saint-Germain will roll on to the second meeting between the two European heavyweights.

During the 90 minutes in Paris, both Sergi Roberto and Andreas Christensen were yellow-carded by referee Anthony Taylor, meaning that they will each miss the second leg at the Estadi Olimpic in Montjuic.

That leaves Xavi Hernandez with a big headache. Barring any complications, Frenkie de Jong and Ilkay Gundogan will continue in midfield, but their partner is unknown. Pedri is likely to be the obvious option, as per Sport, but there are question marks over whether he can compete for 60+ minutes.

If Xavi doesn’t wish to risk Pedri from the start, Fermin Lopez would be the next in line to make the line-up. Oriol Romeu is also an option, but he has been a fringe player in recent months, and it’s highly unlikely that he is considered for a match of this magnitude.

Either way, it’s far from an ideal situation for Barcelona. At this stage, it seems most likely that Pedri (not a bad replacement to have) is in from the start against PSG next week, although Xavi will be keen to manage him as much as possible before then.