Barcelona Atletic request Girona B postponement as injuries and international call-ups leave squad depleted

Barcelona Atletic have asked the Spanish Football Federation to postpone Saturday’s match against Girona B after injuries and international selections left coach Juliano Belletti facing a severe shortage of players.

According to Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo, 22 players are unavailable for the Barcelona reserve side. Eight are injured, while 14 have joined their national teams, making it difficult for the club to field a sufficiently large squad for the Spanish second division fixture.

Barcelona Atletic currently have only nine senior players available: Bonfill, Onstein, Javi Castro, Gariba, Dani Avila, Katovic, Diarra, Koir and Alex Gonzalez. Two players from the youth team, Argemi and Gistau, are also available to Belletti.

The injury list has been extended by Landry Fari and Guillem Victor. They join Eider Aller, Shane Kluivert, Pedro Villar, Juan Hernandez, Patricio Pacifico and Sima Nomoko, who is nearing the end of his rehabilitation and a return to action.

The match is scheduled for 14 November 2026, with Girona B the visitors. The timing of the fixture has intensified the problems facing Belletti, as the international break has removed a number of key players involved with both youth and senior national teams.

Fourteen players away on international duty

Iker Rodriguez, Alex Campos, Pedro Rodriguez and Jony Hernandez have been called up by Spain Under-19s.

Ebrima, Raul Exposito, Papa Koroma, Sergi Mayans, Jordi Pesquer, Ebrima Tunkara, Ivo Martinez and Roberto Tomas are taking part in the Under-17 World Cup.

Caicedo is with Ecuador, while Aziz Issa has joined Ghana.

Barcelona Atletic are also without Egyptian forward Hamza Abdelkarim, who is registered with the first-team squad but has been playing for the reserve side. He has been called up by Egypt’s senior team.

The request comes at an important stage of the campaign for Barcelona Atletic, who have made an impressive start to the season and sit top of Group Two in the Spanish second division with 25 points.

They are four points clear of second-placed Terrassa, five ahead of Espanyol B and six above Girona B, their next opponents. The match therefore carries significant importance in the race for first place, with Barcelona Atletic seeking to maintain their position at the summit.