FC Barcelona forward Ferran Torres is set to miss the UEFA Champions League round of 16 match against Napoli at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on March 12, reported SPORT on Monday.
The first leg between the two sides ended 1-1 and getting past this stage is very important for Xavi Hernandez as this is Barcelona’s one of the key objectives of the season.
Xavi was met with a major blow last month when two of Barca’s most important players, Frenkie de Jong and Pedri, were ruled out after sustaining injuries in a La Liga match against Athletic Bilbao.
However, they are not the only ones Xavi will miss against Napoli as Ferran Torres too will be on the sidelines as he didn’t participate in the last training session held at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper.
Torres will most probably mark his return against Atletico Madrid in Barcelona’s next league game on March 18 at the Civitas Metropolitano Stadium.
Multiple youth players like Thus Fort, Astralaga, Guiu, Marc Casado, and Unai Hernandez trained with the first team and few of them will likely be in the squad which will take on the Serie A champions.
Barcelona, already having limited options offensively, will greatly miss Torres as the Spaniard could’ve been a reliable option to exploit Napoli’s defense with his ability to dribble in close spaces and effectiveness in front of the goal.
Torres last played for Barcelona on January 31 against Osasuna and he has been out of action since then. He was in great form as the forward netted five goals and provided one assist in five games in January before getting injured.
It will be interesting to see how Xavi copes with Torres’ injury as Barcelona will do everything to make sure their European journey doesn’t end this soon.