Barcelona will face Espanyol in the 36th round of La Liga without Inigo Martinez, who is suspended due to accumulated yellow cards. This absence adds to the list of injured players, including Jules Kounde, Marc Bernal, and Pablo Torre.

The absence of this central defender, who has been a mainstay in Flick’s team, comes at a time when Barcelona is experiencing one of its most conceding periods of the season. Since the 1-0 win over Mallorca in the 33rd round, Barcelona has conceded 13 goals in its last five matches (an average of 2.6 goals per game): five goals from Real Madrid in two Copa del Rey and La Liga finals, seven goals from Inter in the UEFA Champions League, and one goal from Valladolid.

Hans-Dieter Flick will have to organize a new and unprecedented defensive line, where Eric Garcia is almost certain to play as the right-back, having regularly filled in for Kounde. On the left, Alejandro Balde may replace Gerard Martin, although the German coach is usually cautious about reintegrating players returning from injury. However, the young La Masia player played 32 minutes in the recent match against Real Madrid.

In central defense, Pablo Cubarsi is almost certain to start, and Ronald Araujo may join him. Araujo has not played since the match against Inter and received a yellow card while on the bench against Real Madrid, preventing him from coming on as a substitute.

Andreas Christensen may also feature in this match. Flick brought him on in the last 30 minutes of El Clasico, and his impressive performance surprised many fans, as he had missed a significant part of the season due to injury.