An insight into the plans of the coaching staff at La Liga giants Barcelona for the club’s upcoming showdown with Paris Saint-Germain has on Sunday come to the fore.
The info comes courtesy of Mundo Deportivo, and points towards Barca’s XI for Tuesday night as being close to picking itself.
No fewer than ten players are understood to have been locked into Xavi’s line-up, in the form of:
Marc-André ter Stegen, Jules Koundé, Ronald Araújo, Pau Cubarsí, João Cancelo, İlkay Gündoğan, Frenkie de Jong, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, and Lewandowski.
Of these ten, only shot-stopper Ter Stegen and defensive prodigy Cubarsí featured from the off against Cádiz last night.
This, of course, leaves just one spot open, in midfield.
With both Andreas Christensen and Sergi Roberto having picked up Champions League suspensions, the leading option to fill this role comes in the form of Pedri.
The Spanish international has been gradually worked back into competitive action over the last week, introduced off the bench in the first-leg victory over PSG, and Saturday’s Cádiz clash.
As per the aforementioned MD, though, caution remains when it comes to throwing Pedri in from the off in two days’ time.
The 21-year-old is prone to injury setbacks, with Xavi and co. desperate to have him fit and firing over the campaign’s final weeks.
Should it ultimately be decided that Pedri is not ready to start, Fermín López is in turn expected to step into Barcelona’s XI.
Conor Laird | GSFN
