Xavi provides Barcelona injury update ahead of Rayo Vallecano clash

Ter Stegen was forced to pull out of the Germany squad during the November international break due to a back problem, and he will not be risked against Rayo this weekend.

As a result, there will be just sixth Barcelona appearance for Pena, with the 24-year-old preparing to make his first outing of the 2023-24 campaign.

Barcelona will also again be missing Sergi Roberto due to a calf problem, while Gavi is out for the remainder of the campaign due to the significant knee injury that he suffered while representing Spain last weekend.

However, there is some positive news on the injury front for the La Liga champions, with Frenkie de Jong available to return after being out since the end of September with an ankle problem.

"Tomorrow Marc [Andre ter Stegen] will not be able to be there and all the confidence in Inaki Pena, who is 100% prepared," Xavi told reporters during his press conference Friday.

"We have noticed Frenkie's loss when he has not been there, like Pedri's. He is 100% fit, he has been with the group for days and is available."

Xavi also admitted that Ronald Araujo and Raphinha were doubts for the game with Rayo due to their travelling schedules after representing Uruguay and Brazil during the international break.

"We are conditioned by the minutes. For example, Araujo and Raphinha have hardly trained, they have had to rest. We are worried about fatigue and the minutes," he added.

"We do tests and injury prevention. We do tests to see how they are and thus decide the alignment... more than a small solution, which I think FIFA is considering, to spend eight or nine months at the club and then the players go to the national team.

"And then in two or three months, there will be the classification for the European Championship and then the European Championship.

"It is not easy for players like Araujo to have made 13-hour trips. It would be a good solution that FIFA is considering.

"We always play a lot and now we have seven games before the Christmas break. Two in the Champions League and five in the league are important for the future of the two championships. Everything adds up, recovering feelings from three or four games ago now from there we will surely achieve results."

Barcelona recorded a 2-1 win over Alaves before the international break, with Robert Lewandowski netting a second-half brace after the champions had fallen behind, and they are currently third in the La Liga table, four points behind leaders Girona.