Barcelona veteran could get a rare start against Athletic Club after international break

One week from now Barcelona will resume their season after the international break with a game against Athletic Club at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on October 22.

The Blaugrana are currently third in the La Liga standings, three points shy of leaders Real Madrid, and cannot afford any slip-up against the Basque outfit, especially with the Clasico on the horizon.

However, injuries in the squad and fatigue from the international fixtures could mean that manager Xavi Hernandez could be forced into making some personnel changes, especially keeping in mind the matches against Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Madrid.

Inigo Martinez to start against former club?

As such, Sergi Capdevila of SPORT is reporting that Barcelona could hand a rare start to summer signing Inigo Martinez against his former team Athletic Club next weekend.

Martinez left Athletic Club to sign for Barça during the summer transfer window earlier this year, arriving on a free transfer after his contract had run down.

The 32-year-old, though, has not played a great deal for the Blaugrana, as he was out for close to a month due to injury.

Furthermore, with Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, and Andreas Christensen ahead of him in the pecking order, minutes are hard to come by.

Indeed, Martinez has played three times only so far this season, totalling up to 93 minutes of action.

Golden opportunity

But Martinez could be in line to receive a starting opportunity against his former employers.

As things stand, Kounde is out injured while Christensen and Araujo are away on international duty and would return with some fatigue given the minutes they have played.

Furthermore, Araujo will be returning just a couple of days before the Athletic Club clash and might not have enough time to rest.

As such, there is a strong chance that Martinez may feature from kickoff against the Basque country club next week and the Spaniard must make the most of his opportunity, after having had a mixed display in his start against RCD Mallorca.