Gerard Pique ended up being singled out in Barcelona's draw against Inter that left them with little chance of qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League and his participation in this weekend's Clasico against Real Madrid is in doubt.

From the start of the campaign Xavi was clear with Barcelona's defensive leader, telling him he had to earn his place, which at 35 has clearly cost him more as he has had to deal with his personal problems following his split with Shakira.

Against Inter he made huge mistakes, not positioning himself well and playing everyone onside, but then also letting the ball go over his head for Nicolo Barella to score with ease.

But it wasn't the only thing. He then made another mistake with Denzel Dumfries that could have cost him another goal, which brought on whistles from the home fans.

Defensive injuries put Xavi in tough spot

Barcelona suffered several injuries in central defence at a key moment of the season, which weighed on their Champions League results as they lost away to Bayern Munich and Inter, and yesterday conceded three goals to deny them a win that was vital to stay in the competition, and now they can only hope for a miracle.

Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Hector Bellerin are injured and left Xavi with the need to use Pique with Eric Garcia and the worst is not over, because the Clasico against Real Madrid is coming.

The circumstances force the return of Kounde. The Frenchman is already training and if he is ok, he will send Pique to the bench, to play in the back four alongside Eric Garcia, Marcos Alonso and the other doubt to resolve would be who goes on the left between Jordi Alba or Alex Balde.