Barcelona Defensive Crisis Deepens Ahead of Aston Villa Clash as Injury Concerns Mount

Following their convincing win over Deportivo Alaves, Barcelona are grappling with defensive injury woes ahead of their upcoming Champions League fixture against Aston Villa. According to Cadena SER, Jules Kounde, Eric Garcia, and Andreas Christensen have yet to recover from their respective injuries and will miss Tuesday's match.

The defensive shortage has forced manager Hansi Flick—who recently secured his 100th victory in 131 matches in charge of the Catalan club—to improvise, deploying Frenkie de Jong alongside Pau Cubarsi at centre-back and Bryan Fariñas at right-back. All three players are racing against time to be fit for next Sunday's crucial La Liga showdown against Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano Stadium, though their participation remains in doubt as the team battles for the league summit.