Gerard Pique is said to still be struggling with a sprained foot and is expected to miss Barcelona’s trip to Deportivo, whilst Lionel Messi may be rested with Champions League football looming next week.
Barcelona travel out to the Riazor this Saturday evening as the Spanish League gets underway again after the latest international break.
However, it is a trip that Mundo Deportivo report will be taken without their centre-back Pique, as he continues to struggle to regain full fitness. The defender has been out of action since mid-September after spraining his left foot against Spartak Moscow. Initial hope at the club was that he would return after three weeks and possibly for Week 7’s Clasico at home to Real Madrid.
However, that proved to have come too soon for Pique, who was not selected. Since also missing Spain’s World Cup qualifiers with Belarus and France, the defender has been working at Barcelona’s training ground during the international break.
Even so, it is not thought that the player has progressed enough for Tito Vilanova to select him this weekend.
Speculation is also that Messi will be benched by Vilanova for the game against Depor, in a similar move to the team’s trip to Getafe earlier this season. The striker played in both Argentina’s games during the October international break.