Three members of the midfield ranks at Barcelona will be forced to walk the disciplinary tightrope in the club’s showdown with Real Madrid later this evening.
Barca, of course, are primed to return to action in short order.
In what could well prove a season-defining outing, Xavi’s troops have made the trip to Spain’s capital, for the latest edition of El Clásico.
Fall to defeat, and the Blaugrana will all but kiss their chances of retaining the La Liga title goodbye, owing to an 11-point deficit atop the table.
Emerge triumphant, on the other hand, and they will close the gap to Real to a not-insurmountable five points.
Safe to say, then, that Barca’s stars will no doubt head into proceedings ready to do whatever it takes to get the better of their arch rivals.
As alluded to above, though, in efforts towards as much, three such players will be forced to watch their step.
This comes owing to their respective disciplinary records.
All of Andreas Christensen, İlkay Gündoğan and Oriol Romeu currently sit on four yellow cards across the La Liga season to date.
Should any of the three be booked once more at the Santiago Bernabéu, they will in turn be forced to sit out against Valencia next weekend, through a one-game suspension.
Conor Laird | GSFN
