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Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said he was surprised by the reduction of the suspension of Real Madrid defender Nacho Fernandez, which will allow him to play in El Clásico next weekend.
Nacho was sent off for receiving a direct red card after a violent challenge against Porto, Girona, on September 30, and was initially suspended for three matches.
– Live broadcast: Barcelona vs. Athletic Club, Sunday, 2:30 PM ET, ESPN+
– Live broadcast: Sevilla vs. Real Madrid, Saturday, 12:20 PM ET, ESPN+
However, that was reduced to two matches upon resumption this week, meaning Nacho, who has already served one match of his suspension, will miss Saturday’s trip to Seville before returning to face Barcelona on October 28.
“It’s a complete surprise,” Xavi said in a press conference on Friday when asked his opinion on the ruling.
“Last season, he was suspended for three matches [Robert] “Lewandowski touched his nose and was not reduced, so it was a big surprise to see the news that Nacho’s participation was reduced to two matches.”
Before hosting Real Madrid at the Olympic Stadium, Barcelona have home matches against Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Sunday and Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The team is playing these matches with a long list of injuries, although Xavi confirmed that Lamin Yamal, Alejandro Balde, Ilkay Gundogan and Ronald Araujo are all ready to face Athletic.
However, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Lewandowski, Rafinha, Jules Kounde and Sergi Roberto are still out, and face a race against time to be ready for Madrid.
“I would say it’s down to the schedule and bad luck in certain moments, but that’s no excuse not to continue competing,” Xavi added when asked about the growing injury list.
“Araujo, Gundogan, Lamine and Balde are all available, but with the others it will depend on their feelings and what they feel.”
When asked specifically about Lewandowski, Xavi said: “He feels really good. I hope he will be ready for El Clásico. He wants to play. He is a leader in that sense. He is always ready to play even if there is some pain.”
The fire was sparked ahead of the first Clásico of the season after Joan Laporta accused Madrid’s “socially ingrained favouritism” of being behind bribery charges brought against him as part of an investigation into payments made to the former vice president of refereeing. A committee.
Xavi said he agreed with Laporta’s claim that the motivation behind the investigation was an inherent bias against Barcelona arising from Madrid’s societal favoritism.
“Just look at the archives: the Villarato case [claiming a conspiracy against Madrid]Steroids [allegations against Barça]…I support the president 100%.
“This was done to destabilize [Barcelona]. There is a lot of talk about non-sporting issues. In my time, they talked about doping and Villarato, which was invented by a newspaper in Madrid. This is what the president is referring to. “It’s always been the issue.”
