Four Barcelona stars at risk of missing Atletico Madrid game through suspension

Barcelona have an important week ahead. The Catalans are set to take on Mallorca later this evening, followed by a midweek affair against Napoli, in the UEFA Champions League.

Days after the Napoli game, Barcelona will lock horns with Atletico Madrid, in what could be a crucial game for the Blaugrana, in their bid to remain in contention for the league title.

In the meantime, Barcelona will look to focus on the upcoming game against Mallorca this evening.

Four Barça stars may face suspension vs Atletico Madrid

But it appears the Barça team may get depleted further, with up to four first-team players running the risk of being suspended against Atletico Madrid.

These four players in question are Robert Lewandowski, Oriol Romeu, Joao Cancelo, and Andreas Christensen.

All of these four players have picked up four yellow cards for the season, and another one against Mallorca tonight could rule them out of the next game against Atletico Madrid.

Between these four, Lewandowski, Romeu, and Cancelo have been running the risk of suspension for a while now.

Cancelo is one of four players looking to avoid a suspension vs Atletico Madrid (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Ronald Araujo faced a similar predicament last weekend, but he did pick up a yellow card against Athletic Club, which ruled him out of tonight’s clash against Mallorca.

Given the importance of the Atleti clash, it is imperative that players such as Christisten, Lewandowski and Cancelo proceed with caution and avoid a yellow card tonight.

Even Romeu’s availability could be important following the fresh injuries of midfield duo Pedri and Frenkie de Jong.

What are the alternatives?

Lewandowski’s suspension could serve as the biggest blow for Barcelona among these four players. But the Catalans do have the likes of Joao Felix and Vitor Roque available as alternatives.

In defence, Cancelo can be replaced by Hector Fort in the left-back position, while Marcos Alonso is also back from injury.

The options are reduced considerably in the midfield unit, where Gavi, de Jong and Pedri are already ruled out with injuries. That means Romeu and Christensen’s potential absence next weekend could force Barcelona to put their faith in youth players such as Marc Casado.