Barcelona Atletic have requested the postponement of Saturday's Spanish Segunda Division match against Girona B because of a severe shortage of players. The Group Two fixture carries weight in the race for top spot, while injuries and international call-ups have left coach Juliano Belletti without 22 players.
Request to postpone the match
Barcelona Atletic contacted the Royal Spanish Football Federation to request a postponement because they are unable to field enough players for the game, according to the Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo.
The players available
Nine players remain available to Barcelona Atletic: Bonfil, Ohnstein, Javi Castro, Jariba, Dani Avila, Katowicz, Diarra, Kochen and Alex Gonzalez. Youth team players Argemi and Gestao are also available.
Injuries and international call-ups
Landry Farre and Guillem Victor have joined Barcelona Atletic's injury list. The list already includes Eder Aller, Shane Kluivert, Pedro Villar, Juan Hernandez, Patricio Pacifico and Sama Noumoko. Sama Noumoko is close to completing his recovery and returning to the pitch.
The injuries to Barcelona Atletic's players came during the international break. The international window has also taken a large number of key players to youth national sides or senior national teams. Iker Rodriguez, Alex Campos, Pedro Rodriguez and Jony Hernandez have joined Spain's Under-19s. Ibrima, Raul Exposito, Pape Koroma, Sergi Mayans, Jordi Bisquer, Ibrima Tounkara, Iyo Martinez and Roberto Tomas are at the Under-17 World Cup.
Caicedo has linked up with Ecuador and Aziz Issa has linked up with Ghana. Barcelona Atletic are also without Egyptian striker Hamza Abdelkarim, who is registered in the first-team squad but plays with the reserves, after his call-up to the senior Egypt national team.
Group Two standings
Barcelona Atletic lead Group Two of the Spanish Segunda Division with 25 points. They have a four-point lead over second-placed Terrassa, a five-point lead over Espanyol B and a six-point lead over Girona B.
Barcelona Atletic are determined to hold onto their position at the top of Group Two of the Spanish Segunda Division.
