A hurt Barça in Europe seeks to strengthen the leadership against Celta
Xavi’s men want to put aside the defeat against Inter and focus on their good run in LaLiga
MADRID, 8 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona receives this Sunday (9:00 p.m./DAZN LaLiga) Celta de Vigo on matchday eight of LaLiga Santander, in a duel where the azulgranas want to strengthen their leadership before the transcendental duel in the Champions League against Inter, while the Vigueses will try to enlarge the ‘culé’ continental wound in the domestic competition.
Xavi’s team stripped Real Madrid of first place in the table last Sunday in Mallorca. A goal by Robert Lewandowski that was worth three vital points to give the madridistas the tie as good, second with the same points (19) as the Catalan team at the beginning of the day and with whom they will face each other in a week.
Barça wants to reach the Clasico as leader in a crucial week for their aspirations in the ‘Champions’. In fact, he will try to take refuge in his fetish competition until now, where he remains undefeated after seven disputed days. A festival of goals and good results that he has not been able to transfer to the Champions League, where he is third in the group and with no margin of error to qualify for the round of 16.
Along with this, the plague of injuries has affected the dynamics of Xavi’s squad since the international team break; in it he lost Memphis Depay, Frenkie de Jong, Ronald Araújo and Jules Koundé. Four losses that were later added to those of Héctor Bellerín, and those of Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessié after the 1-0 defeat at the San Siro last Wednesday.
Now, with a defensive back in the emergency room, Gerard Piqué and Eric Garcia stand as the only healthy central couple in the locker room, while on the wings Alejandro Balde will return to the eleven after two games and Sergi Roberto points to the right lane.
The tight calendar, and the vitality of the next matches in his aspirations this season, will force Xavi to line up his favorite trident in midfield, made up of Sergio Busquets, Pedri and Gavi, while De Jong could once again have minutes after his injury with the national team, to give rest to some of the irreplaceable ones.
On the other hand, in attack changes are planned with Inter as an absolute priority next Wednesday, so Ferran Torres also wins integers to start as the companion of Ansu Fati and Lewandowski, who will try to recover a scoring instinct lost in the top continental competition, where he had a dream debut with a hat-trick against Viktoria Plzen and two gray nights in Munich and Milan.
CELTA SEEKS TO SURPRISE AT SPOTIFY CAMP NOU
For its part, Celta arrives at the event compensated for the heavy defeats against Atlético de Madrid (4-1) and Valencia (3-0) by beating Real Betis by the minimum. A victory of merit that put an end to the euphoria of the greenish team, who added their second defeat of the season against Eduardo Coudet’s men.
Now, the team from Vigo want to put an end to their poor run of results away from Balaídos and move up the rankings in a table in which they are in eleventh position with 10 points. The Argentine coach will not be under the team’s orders this weekend either, as he is in his country for an “urgency”, so Ariel Broggi will once again take his place.
No major changes are expected in the eleven, which seems to have Gabri Veiga entrenched in the center of the field along with Fran Beltrán. The great performances of the youth squad have made him gain a foothold among a team that added three points last day thanks to his header in the first ten minutes of play.
The big loser of his emergence is Renato Tapia, who could stay on the bench again, unlike Franco Cervi, already recovered from his physical problems and in attack along with the flagship player Iago Aspas and the Norwegian Srand Larsen.
DATASHEET.
–POSSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Balde, Eric Garcia, Pique, Sergi Roberto; Busquets, Pedri, Gavi; Ansu Fati, Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.
CELTIC: Marchesín; Hugo Mallo, Aidoo, Unai Núñez, Javi Galán; Fran Beltrán; Franco Cervi, Gabri Veiga, Óscar Rodríguez; Iago Aspas and Jorgen Strand Larsen.
–REFEREE: Munuera Montero (C.Andaluz).
–STADIUM: Spotify Camp Nou.
–TIME: 9:00 p.m./DAZN LaLiga.