Barcelona's injury troubles leave Xavi with only five first team players available

Xavi Hernandez is back at the Camp Nou for a dream homecoming with Football Club Barcelona. The legendary midfielder has been unveiled as the troubled club's new manager on Monday, but his work is already cut out for him.

The Spaniard flew straight back to Catalunya after former employers Al-Sadd SC approved his exit from Qatar on Friday. The Blaugrana wasted no time in organising his presentation at the club's stadium, which was attended by 25,000 adoring fans. Many of the supporters in attendance were of course loyalists from Xavi's glory days as part of the Barcelona squad.

Now, huge amounts of pressure are resting on Xavi's shoulders as he is tasked with rebuilding the club in the post-Messi era. He appears eager to fulfil his duties, but will have very few players available during his first day of training with the squad. He has hit the ground running and will be in charge of first team training as early as Tuesday.

The first session is scheduled ay 11 a.m. and according to Football Espana, only five first team players will be there to join him. Neto, Oscar Mingueza, Samuel Umtiti, Riqui Puig and Luuk de Jong are the only ones available, with the others either away on international duty or sidelined due to injury.

Barcelona's injury troubles have been well-documented, with Ansu Fati, Nico Gonzalez and Eric Garcia the latest players to join Ousmane Dembélé, Gerard Pique, Martin Braithwaite and Sergio Aguero in the treatment room. The club's physiotherapists have reportedly been at odds with former manager Ronald Koeman's team, and Xavi has been made aware of the situation. He is now looking for a way to help nurse his squad back to health in order to have moore players making notable contributions on the pitch.

Xavi's first match in charge will be on Saturday, November 20 when Barcelona face Espanyol in La Liga.