An update on the wellbeing of two leading members of the attacking ranks at Spanish giants Barcelona has come to the fore this afternoon.
The players in question? João Félix, and Ferran Torres.
Both Félix and Torres are of course sidelined at present, owing to respective injuries suffered towards the back end of January.
The former is currently undergoing treatment on a ligament problem in his ankle, whilst ex-Manchester City man Torres is dealing with a hamstring strain.
Both, as a result, have been forced to sit out Barca’s last two outings – a 3-1 downing of Alavés, and this past weekend’s 3-3 draw with Granada.
Ahead of the Blaugrana’s return to action on the continent next week, though, the hope was that boss Xavi would have at least one of Félix or Torres to call on for the first-leg of the club’s Champions League Last-16 tie with Serie A champions Napoli.
But this, in fact, will not prove the case.
As confirmed by the reliable RAC1 on Tuesday, the two attackers have been ‘definitively ruled out for the trip to Naples’.
The under-fire Xavi, as a result, will be forced to lean on the likes of Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Vitor Roque at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Conor Laird | GSFN
