Barcelona star Andreas Christensen has been forced to make do with a place on the bench for the club’s showdown with Real Madrid on Thursday.
The latest edition of Spanish football’s biggest rivalry is, of course, set to play out in short order.
Amid the ongoing efforts of both sides to reclaim the Copa del Rey, Barca and Real Madrid will go head-to-head in the first-leg of a semi-final tie, at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Ahead of the action kicking into gear in Spain’s capital, in turn, the respective line-ups of both sides were made official a short time ago.
Carlo Ancelotti has opted for a predictably strong XI, featuring the talents of the likes of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Vinicius Jr. and Karim Benzema.
📋✅ Our starting 𝗫𝗜 🆚 @FCBarcelona! #CopaDelRey pic.twitter.com/KC7uBepbAQ
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) March 2, 2023
Counterpart Xavi Hernandez, though, has seen his hand forced by a host of personnel concerns.
And joining such predicted absentees, as alluded to above, has tonight come Andreas Christensen, too.
The Dane, who has earned rave reviews for his efforts at the heart of the Blaugrana’s backline of late, has been forced to make do with a spot on the bench:
🚨 BARÇA XI 🚨#ElClásico pic.twitter.com/16dJa9UaZH
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 2, 2023
This comes after it was widely reported earlier in the day that Christensen has picked up a fitness problem of his own, forced to sit out training due to ongoing ankle discomfort.
❗️ Christensen has not yet recovered from his ankle discomfort. He will not start today’s match against Real Madrid.
— @FCBRAC1 pic.twitter.com/bFbuOp0NWp
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) March 2, 2023
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