Football

Mixed news for Barcelona ahead of El Clasico: Pique to feature/Dembele to miss out

Spanish outlet Sport have this evening provided an update on Barcelona’s squad availability, ahead of the first Clasico matchup of the season later this month.

Barca ease past Sevilla

Ernesto Valverde’s men welcomed Sevilla to the Camp Nou last night, for their latest La Liga outing.

The Blaugrana headed into proceedings on the back of an upturn in form of late, having put Getafe and Inter Milan to the sword over the last couple of weeks.

And, when the 90 minutes were said and done in Catalunya, Barca’s resurgence continued, en route to an impressive 4-0 win.

Luis Suarez opened the scoring in spectacular fashion with 27 minutes on the clock, before an onslaught on the part of the hosts saw Arturo Vidal and Ousmane Dembele essentially end the clash as a contest 10 minutes before half-time.

Lionel Messi then put the finishing touches on the Spanish champions’ win with a sublime free-kick 10 minutes from time.

Dembele to miss Clasico

An otherwise positive evening’s work for Ernesto Valverde’s men, though, was soured somewhat shortly before the full-time whistle.

As Javier Hernandez burst through on the Barcelona goal with 87 minutes on the clock, young debutant Ronald Araujo, who had been introduced as a late substitute, was adjudged to have pulled the former Manchester United man to ground.

This subsequently saw referee Antonio Lahoz produce a red card, much to the frustration of the hosts’ senior players.

One individual to have been particularly vexed by the decision was Ousmane Dembele, who’s protests saw the Frenchman handed a 2nd yellow, and the Blaugrana reduced to 9 men.

As such, Dembele is now set for a ban, with Sport having this evening provided an insight into the predicted extent of the attacker’s punishment.

It is suggested that Barca are likely to be without Dembele for their next two domestic outings, after he labelled referee Lahoz ‘very bad’.

This would see the 22-year-old miss his side’s trip to Eibar following the international break, and, crucially, the first El Clasico matchup of the campaign a week later.

BARCELONA, SPAIN – October 6: Ousmane Dembele walks past head coach Ernesto Valverde after being sent off. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

Pique to return

Gerard Pique, on the other hand, is expected to be available to face Real Madrid.

Spanish stopper Pique picked up a controversial booking of his own last night.

With the score at 4-0 and Barcelona cruising, the veteran appeared to secure a deliberate yellow card.

This comes as Pique’s 5th of the season, and means he will now conveniently be suspended for the Catalan giants’ meeting with Eibar.

Despite suggestions from rival fans that Pique should be handed a heavier ban for picking up a tactical booking, though, it looks as though the 32-year-old will be available to Ernesto Valverde when Barca welcome their fiercest rivals to the Camp Nou on the 26th of October.

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