Barcelona coach could call up two teenage prospects to the squad vs Valladolild

Barcelona will be focusing their efforts on securing a fourth win on the bounce when they host Real Valladolid at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Saturday.

The Blaugrana are the only team in the league to have made a 100% start so far, beating Valencia, Athletic Club, and Rayo Vallecano – all by the same 2-1 scoreline.

Hansi Flick & co. have done so despite being without some important players like Gavi, Ronald Araujo, Frenkie de Jong, and Andreas Christensen.

Earlier this week, they were hit with yet another injury blow as Marc Bernal ruptured his ACL in the game against Rayo.

Reinforcements from Barça Atletic

While Barcelona explored the possibility of signing a new defender and a midfielder owing to the injuries, their poor Financial Fair Play situation meant there was no room.

Flick has been not shy of trusting the youth. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

As such, Flick has had to dip into the club’s reserve and youth ranks to have options on the bench if needed against Valladolid.

To that end, journalist Sergi Capdevila reports that the Barcelona manager called up two teenage prospects – Unai Hernandez and Andres Cuenca – to first-team training today, with the duo likely to be named on the squad list for Saturday’s match.

Unai, 19, is one of the captains of the Barça Atletic team this season and trained with the senior setup under Flick’s watch earlier this week as well.

A versatile midfielder, the La Masia talent is not a defensive midfielder but can provide cover as an interior while also being capable of playing on the left flank.

Meanwhile, Cuenca, 17, is a centre-back who is rated very highly within the club. The youngster was already included in the squad list for the trip to Rayo Vallecano earlier this week.

And, as things stand, it appears that he would be called up again tomorrow, even though Flick has recovered one of his injured defenders in Eric Garcia.