How will Barcelona line up against Benfica in a crucial Champions League match?
After a disappointing away draw against Getafe over the weekend, Barcelona will travel to Lisbon to play Benfica at the Estádio da Luz with the goal of guaranteeing an automatic berth in the Champions League Round of 16.
Although Barça is already in the knockout stages, they can avoid the playoff round entirely if they win four of their previous two League Phase games. However, considering the Blanchgrana’s outstanding goal differential and the top tiebreaker in the standings, three points at Benfica should be sufficient to finish the job.
However, facing a Benfica team that is still hoping to place in the Top 8 won’t be simple, as they are always a fierce opponent in front of their incredible home crowd. This is how we believe Hansi Flick will arrange his forces for the battle on Tuesday.
There is no question that Flick will start his best team for this match because Barça needs all three points and has made the Champions League their top priority this season.
With Wojciech Szczesny and Iñaki Peña still vying for the starting position, the primary doubt at the back remains in goal. Peña started against Getafe during the weekend, but according to Catalan media, Flick has made the decision to start Szczesny in all Cup competitions, including the Champions League. If that’s the case, expect the Pole to start this match.
The customary starting back four of Alejandro Balde, Paul Cubarsí, Ronald Araujo, and Julis Kounde will line up in front of Tek. After receiving his medical clearance, Andreas Christensen will also be considered for a slot, but this will be the backline until Iñigo Martínez recovers from his injury.
After the Getafe match, Dani Olmo unexpectedly appeared on the injury report due to calf muscle soreness. The midfielder is anticipated to miss the following two games due to the injury. This means that choosing a midfield is somewhat easy because the core trio consists of Marc Casadó, Pedro, and Gavi.
We still believe that Frenkie de Jong is considered a backup option in Flick’s depth chart, despite the fact that the Dutchman has been better and more at ease in recent games since replacing Casadó.
Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, and Raphinha will once again form the front three and try to lead Barça to another significant European road win, so there are no doubts about who begins in attack either.
As long as the three superstars are healthy, Ferran Torres, who played a significant role in Barça’s Champions League victory against Borussia Dortmund last month, will likely remain a very effective attacking option off the bench.
Read more news on https://sportupdates.co.uk/
Leave a Reply