FC Barcelona head into a very crunch clash on Wednesday without the services of five key players: Pedri, Gavi, Ferran Torres, Andreas Christensen and Frenkie de Jong. The first three are injured while the last name we mentioned there is suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
On Thursday, Barcelona announced that Pedri will be out, due to the hamstring injury that he suffered last week against Slavia Praha, for a whole month. As for Gavi, he’s now in the final stages of his recovery from surgery to repair his injured meniscus.
UCL League Phase Finale
Matchday 8 of 8 FC Barcelona vs Copenhagen
Kickoff: Wed Jan 28, 8pm, Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
UCL Standing: FC Barcelona 9th, 13 pts Copenhagen 26th, 8 pts
Win Probability: FC Barcelona 86% Draw 9% Copenhagen 5%
He should be back sometime later on next month. In the meantime, Gavi and Pedri are having fun with each other on social media.
As you can see below, both are apparently, big time fans of Taylor Swift, or “Swifties.” Now look what you made me do, look what you made me do, just what you made do.
FC Barcelona’s Pedri shared an Instagram post using “The Fate of Ophelia” and his teammate Gavi praised his music taste:
“Your music taste is getting better 👏😂” pic.twitter.com/nnadPmu2Cs
— Taylor Swift Updates+ (@chartstswifty) January 26, 2026
Barca Team News
As for Torres, he has a muscular injury, and although he’s out here, he should be back on the weekend against Elche. And then finally, Christensen is out for a very long time, with an ACL injury.
Barcelona need a win here to move up from the Playoff Qualifier grouping to the Playoff contingent. It definitely helps that two of the teams they are immediately chasing, Newcastle and Paris Saint-Germain, are playing each other in the UCL League Phase finale.
As for Copenhagen, they need a win, and maybe even some help, to get out of the elimination zone and into the Playoff Qualifiers group.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.