FC Barcelona's depth is currently under trial as a lot of first team players are out with long-term injuries. With the important quarter-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in just a few days, can Barcelona afford to divide their attention on today's La Liga match against RCD Mallorca as well?
Barcelona has expended its resources heavily in the last couple of weeks. Messi was played for 90 minutes against Celta Vigo, Xavi was forced to play right after recovering from injury against PSG, and the results weren't very satisfactory.
The decision to focus on two important competitions has proven to be a headache for Tito and Roura. Messi, Alves, and Iniesta have been overused while Bartra, Song, Thiago, and Montoya are underused. With Messi, Mascherano, Pedro, Puyol, and Adriano unavailable from varying degrees of injuries, the lack of rotation implemented by Tito and Roura further complicates the problem.
Gregorio Manzano's men are currently sitting in 19th place, fresh from a defeat at the hands of 20th place Deportivo La Coruna last week. They scored two goals in that match as they did in the previous four matches which shows that they have no problem scoring goals.
This could cause problems for Barcelona as a makeshift back four is expected to conserve the energy of Alves or Alba. Abidal or Bartra can play alongside Pique and their untested partnership will be under pressure from the Mallorca forwards, especially Gio dos Santos who has raked in 3 goals and 6 assists so far in La Liga.
Mascherano and Messi have been added to the long list of injured Barcelona players. Mascherano will be out of action for 6 weeks, meanwhile Messi's injury is not as serious as once thought as he might be available against PSG in midweek.
Puyol, Pedro, and Adriano are still unavailable but Abidal is getting healthier by the day. Expect Bartra or Abidal to play this weekend and possibly in midweek. Iniesta and Xavi will be rested along with Busquets so that Song and Thiago can get some game time.
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