Two Barcelona reserve team youngsters present in training ahead of Real Betis clash

Barcelona’s topsy-turvy start to La Liga has been marred by injuries to a number of key players such as Pedri, Ronald Araujo and recently, even Ilkay Gundogan during the international break for Germany.

Although Gundogan’s injury seems to be cause for no concern, the general fitness issues have been a worry for the Catalans in recent years.

Especially in the case of Pedri, who the club fear has become injury prone due to being overworked in the first two years since his breakthrough, and it is being reported that Barcelona are working to overcome any long-term issues.

As a result of these injuries and then the suspension of Fermin Lopez, Xavi is being forced to bring in more players from the subsidiary to try and help out in training and potentially be available for more games.

Casado and Unai Hernandez in training

Among the two talents that the Spanish coach chose to involve in training today, were Marc Casado and Unai Hernandez from the reserve team, as reported by SPORT.

Casado has already been among the substitutes for the first four matchdays of the 23/24 La Liga season, eagerly awaiting his first minutes of the campaign after he made his debut last year.

Unai Hernandez was a highly-rated youngster at Girona who Barcelona ingrained into their academy setup and he has been impressing for the reserves.

Both these youngsters were named in our list of five Barcelona midfield prospects who could deputise for Pedri, Fermin Lopez and Gundogan, if the latter is not fit to participate for a while even though he is in training today.

Xavi also reportedly sees a lot of promise in Unai Hernandez, while Casado’s talent and the club’s vision for him is well-established.