"And at the heart of their success has been the three-pronged midfield of Patri Guijarro, Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí. The trio have dominated women's football in recent years, scoring goals, creating assists, controlling games and pressing the opposition into submission. But while Putellas and Bonmati have won five Ballons d'Or between them, Guijarro has often been left to work in the shadows."
"However, Patri suffered a broken bone in her foot against AS Roma in October which will keep her out of action for 12 weeks. And with Saturday's El Clasico against rivals Real Madrid followed by a UWCL trip to big-spending Chelsea, filling the void at the base of the midfield will be a big challenge for an already thin squad. Patri's two-way presence from midfield is difficult to replicate, so how reliant are Pere Romeu's side on her?"
Barcelona reached the UEFA Women's Champions League final in each of the last five seasons and won three titles. The midfield trio of Patri Guijarro, Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí provides goals, assists, game control and intense pressing. Guijarro, aged 27, performs underrated two-way duties that connect attack and defence and serve as the first outlet in build-up. A broken foot in October will sideline her for roughly 12 weeks, creating a significant gap ahead of El Clasico and a UWCL trip to Chelsea. Barcelona's possession-heavy approach relies on deep progression and final-third passing that Guijarro regularly delivers.
Read at ESPN.com
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