Three youth team forwards Barcelona can rely on in the absence of Lewandowski, Raphinha

“I am ferociously pi**ed off at UEFA, FIFA and Serie A and all this gang for this crazy calendar,” Maurizio Sarri raged following his Lazio’s dramatic 1-2 win against Celtic int he Champions League this week.

“In all my years in football, I have never seen a schedule like this. They have made us have three away games in a row at Napoli, Juventus and AC Milan. This is why we are struggling.”

The Italian boss is absolutely correct, too. The biggest teams with the most depth are also struggling to keep up with this schedule, and the players are bearing the grunt of the same through injuries.

Barcelona is one of the teams most negatively impacted by this torrid run of fixtures, and have several key players out of action already with an important part of the season still coming up.

Robert Lewandowski was the latest name to be added to a list of Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, and Raphinha as he limped off against Porto in the first-half yesterday. The Polish striker is in danger of missing el Clasico through an ankle sprain and could be out for as long as a month.

With just three forwards available in the form of Ferran Torres, Joao Felix, and Lamine Yamal, Xavi could look to call up forwards from Barcelona’s youth teams.

Pau Victor

One of the leading candidates is Barcelona Atletic’s Pau Victor.

On loan from Girona, Victor has started life at Barcelona quite well, scoring four goals in six appearances so far this season, including a brace against Tarazona.

The 22-year-old is versatile, and can play across the frontline in multiple roles — as a striker, a false 9, and even on the wing.

Marc Guiu

Xavi could have other options, though, in the form of Marc Guiu, who is coming off a brilliant goal against Porto in the UEFA Youth League last night. The teenager was also on target for Barcelona U-19 against Badalona in the league.

At 6’1″, Guiu is an imposing player and is able to pin the opposition centre-backs with ease. Further, if called up, he would be among the very few left-footed players in Barcelona’s squad, and a very unique profile.

Angel Alarcon

The other scorer for Barcelona against Porto in the Youth League was Angel Alarcon, coming off in the 74th minute.

Alarcon has already made his debut for Barcelona’s senior team – under Xavi, no less. He was called up last season and played four matches, without much impact, though.

The manager knows the teenager’s strengths and weaknesses and could call him up again to paper the cracks.