Barcelona injury update for Champions League quarter-final against PSG: De Jong, Gavi, Balde

Two squad members return to the list while seven players head into Wednesday’s first leg in Paris just one booking away from suspension.

Barcelona head into Wednesday’s Champions League quarter final clash with PSG buoyed by the return of two key players but forced to tread carefully as seven members of Xavi Hernández are at risk of missing the crucial return leg at the Lluis Companys.

Frenkie de Jong and Pedri have both been included in the coach’s 25-man squad for the trip to Paris although neither player has received the medical all-clear. Both were injured in the league game against Athletic Club on 3 March. De Jong has sat out the last four games while recovering from an ankle injury while Pedri has spent the same amount of time sidelined with a hamstring injury. Just two players remain in the sickbay: Gavi who is recovering from an ACL tear and Alex Balde, who underwent surgery to repair the tendon in his right hamstring at the end of January.

De Jong could start against PSG but it’s unlikely that Xavi will include Pedri in his initial XI. Depending on how the game develops, he could be introduced during the later stages.

Several Barça players must proceed with extreme caution at Parc des Princes as they are just one booking away from suspension. Out of all of them, perhaps Ronald Araújo is the one who must avoid going into the book at all costs as well as being the one at most risk as he will be tasked with marking Mbappé. Andreas Christensen, who will be deployed in the holding midfield role, is also one yellow away from completing the cycle. He is a fundamental player for Xavi in his new position and in the last games against Atlético and Las Palmasthe coach has reserved him precisely with this game against PSG in