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PEDRI INJURY SPARKS BARCELONA SEARCH FOR THREE MIDFIELD REPLACEMENT OPTIONS

With Pedri injured, Barcelona boss Hansi Flick may turn to academy star Marc Casadó to replace Pedri in midfield. The 22-year-old is in line to start against Elche as Barca deals with a key absence.

Pedri Injury Sparks Barcelona Search For Three Midfield Replacement Options
Pedri suffers a hamstring tear - Photo Credit: Getty Images

According to a source, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick may try to replace the injured Pedri with a young player from the team's academy.

Under Flick's guidance, Pedri has become one of the best midfield players in the world, but Barcelona will now have to play without the gifted young player after he suffered an injury that was soon determined to be more serious than first believed.

Given that Pedri could miss up to six weeks of action, Flick could need to be more inventive in his team selection, starting with Sunday's encounter with Elche.

Marc Casadó, who practised with Dutch sensation Frenkie de Jong in Barcelona's double pivot, is expected to start against Elche, according to Mundo Deportivo.

Before his late-season comeback to fitness left Casadó scrambling for minutes, the 22-year-old was one of the standout stars of Flick's first season in Catalonia, shining as the stand-in for De Jong.

However, with so many games scheduled during Pedri's absence, Flick is taking into account a wide range of choices in an effort to rotate his team and maintain everyone's health and fitness.

Tommy Marqués, an academy star, has also been training with the first team, and centre back Eric García, who is enjoying a comeback in defence as Pau Cubarsí's regular partner, could potentially be used in midfield. Premier League teams are already keeping tabs on the 19-year-old, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Since Pedri was sent off in the closing moments of Barcelona's El Clásico loss to Real Madrid, he is already suspended for Sunday's match against Elche, so Flick was already preparing for one game without his lucky midfield player.

A brief period of absence was made possible by a minor fitness issue following the final whistle, but medical examinations ultimately revealed Pedro would require significantly more time to heal than expected.

"We were stunned by the injury," Flick admitted. He simply felt worn out after playing against Real Madrid. Then the wound was found.

"We must come to terms with it. One of our important players is absent. He provides us with a great deal of possession and solidity. We must manage.

Barcelona fell to third place in the La Liga standings going into their match against Elche after Villarreal's victory over Rayo Vallecano on Saturday. A victory would keep Flick's team within five points of league leaders Madrid, while a draw would move them back into second place.

MLS COUP: ANALYTICAL DEEP DIVE ON ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI'S POTENTIAL CHICAGO TRANSFER

Chicago Fire is in pole position to sign Robert Lewandowski next summer, holding his MLS Discovery Rights despite interest from Inter Miami and Saudi Arabia.

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Fire Leads Race for Barça Star Robert Lewandowski

Chicago Fire had good talks with Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski about a move to Major League Soccer.

The Polish star's contract with Barcelona ends this season, and Fire wants to sign the 37-year-old next summer.

Sources say Lewandowski is interested, and his pay shouldn't be a problem.

He could stay with Barcelona or go to the Saudi Pro League, but a move to MLS is a real possibility.

The Fire, who made the MLS playoffs this season for the first time since 2017, have him on their discovery list. This means no other team in the league can sign him without paying Fire a fee.

Inter Miami has also been mentioned, but they can't talk to Lewandowski while he's on that list. Fire is in the best position if he chooses to play in America.

Lionel Messi's Inter has an open spot after Jordi Alba retired after their MLS Cup win against Vancouver this month.

Fire, who also tried to sign Neymar and Kevin de Bruyne earlier this year, has wanted Lewandowski for at least six months. Chicago has the biggest Polish community in the USA, which makes this move make sense.

The former Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund player's wife, Anna, visited Chicago last month while in the States.

Lewandowski has scored 109 goals in 164 games for Barcelona and has won La Liga twice since joining in 2022 on a four-year contract.

This season, he has scored eight goals in 17 games, and his team is four points ahead in La Liga.

COPA SCARE: ANDREAS CHRISTENSEN & MARCUS RASHFORD SAVE FLICK'S ROTATED BARçA IN GUADALAJARA.

Barcelona's rotated squad struggled until Andreas Christensen's late goal broke Guadalajara’s defence, followed by a clincher from Marcus Rashford (2-0).

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Guadalajara Frustrates Barça's Rotation

Hansi Flick rotated the squad for their trip to face Guadalajara, a third-division team, at Pedro Escartin, but the team still had plenty of talent. Even so, Barcelona didn't have an easy time in their first Copa del Rey game of the season.

The game was delayed by half an hour to allow fans to enter the temporary stands. The start of the match was slow-paced in the cold weather of Guadalajara. Barcelona searched for openings in Guadalajara's tight defense. Fermin Lopez had a shot from just outside the box, which was their best chance in the first half. Eric Garcia also had two late runs into the box, getting free headers both times. The first header went into the goalkeeper's hands, and the second went over the top.

Barcelona finally broke through after a set piece

At the start of the second half, Marcus Rashford had Barcelona's best chance but couldn't beat Daniel Vicente in goal. Flick started making changes, with Marc Bernal subbed off first. Then, Pau Cubarsi, Jules Kounde, Alejandro Balde, and Pedri came on to save the game as the second half continued.

Barcelona wasn't making clear progress toward scoring, as Lamine Yamal's attempts were stopped repeatedly. Andreas Christensen had to intercept a cross to stop Guadalajara's best attack. Then, he scored at the other end. With just under 15 minutes left, a cleared corner reached Frenkie de Jong through Pedri. De Jong's cross to the far post found Christensen, whose header deflected off a defender and into the net.

After conceding a goal, Guadalajara showed ambition and energy in pushing forward. Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Barcelona's captain and goalkeeper for the first time this season, had to make two saves, including a great one to push away a strong shot from Salifo Caropitchi.

With more space for Barcelona on the counterattack, Guadalajara's failure to score first would be punished. Lamine Yamal cut in from the right and passed behind the right-back to Rashford, who calmly went around Vicente and scored into the top of the net.

Guadalajara received loud support throughout the game, which they deserved for their effort. Many La Liga teams have lost by more. For Flick, the positives were the playing time for youngsters Bernal and Torrents and a strong game from Andreas Christensen.

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