Barcelona confirm shock absence for Levante clash as registration efforts fail | OneFootball

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has named his squad to face Levante on Saturday in their second La Liga match of the season. And there is good news for the Catalans, with Robert Lewandowski having been given the medical green light by the club’s medical department.

Lewandowski missed the trip to Mallorca last weekend due to injury, and he had been considered a major doubt for the Levante match too. However, he has come through this week’s training program with flying colours, meaning that he is able to be included in the matchday squad.

However, it is not all good news for Barcelona. It has been confirmed that Frenkie de Jong will not make the trip, as hinted at by Flick during his pre-match press conference on Friday. The Dutch midfielder’s wife gave birth to their second child this week, which meant that he has not trained at full capacity.

Image via Marca

Barcelona run out of time to register Gerard Martin

As well as de Jong, Barcelona will also be without the unregistered trio of Gerard Martin, Wojciech Szczesny and Roony Bardghji. Work was being done to ensure that the former would be able to travel to Valencia, but in the end, the Catalans have run out of time to sign him up with La Liga.

It is far from ideal for Barcelona to be without the services of de Jong, but they do have capable replacements in Gavi or Marc Casado. The former is expected to be given the nod by Flick to start against Levante, in what would be his first start of the new season.

All being well, Barcelona will be able to count upon de Jong for next weekend’s trip to Madrid, where they will face Rayo Vallecano. Martin could also be available, although that will depend on him being registered in the next seven days.