Barcelona hope to have superstar midfield duo available for UCL quarterfinals

Barcelona enjoyed one of their best moments of the 2023/24 campaign when they secured a 3-1 win over Napoli to seal tickets for the Champions League quarterfinals.

This is the first time Barça have managed to reach this stage of the competition in over three years, and the club were able to do it without the services of some of their top players.

However, the task is about to get trickier from now on, as Barcelona are likely to face a strong team in the quarterfinal stage.

The likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City, and PSG have already qualified for the last eight. Later tonight, we may even see Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, or Atletico Madrid joining that list.

Barcelona, therefore, would require their top players to be available as they gear up for a difficult challenge in the last eight.

Barcelona hopeful of Pedri & de Jong’s return

While Gavi has been ruled out for the season due to a serious knock, Barcelona are hopeful of having Pedri and Frenkie de Jong available for the UCL quarterfinal.

This is according to Mundo Deportivo, which suggests that Barcelona’s win over Napoli last night has opened up the possibility of the two midfielders participating in the next round, at least in the second leg.

Barcelona are slated to play two legs of the QF stage on April 9/10 and April 16/17 respectively. That should give both midfielders enough time to try and get back to full fitness.

Frenkie de Jong is making good recovery (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

It was earlier reported that Pedri should be able to participate in the next Clasico on April 21. But it appears Barcelona are looking at the possibility of having him back in action, at least for the second leg of the quarterfinal tie.

Pedri, for his part, is desperate to return to the pitch but everything will depend on how he recovers from his fitness over the next couple of weeks.

As for De Jong, the Dutchman had endured a less severe injury and he has greater chances of…

Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/barcelona-hope-to-have-superstar-midfield-duo-available-for-ucl-quarterfinals/

Author : Connell Edgar-Jones

Publish date : 2024-03-13 13:30:12

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