Diego Simeone has had to leave out
Juanfran, Tiago, Andre Moreira, Alessio Cerci and Augusto Fernandez from
this squad to face Barcelona, according to the released squad list on
the club’s official site. So other than the absence of first team regular Juanfran, Los Rojiblancos have a full strength squad.
To make up for the absence of Juanfran,
Sime Vrsaljko will likely start at right-back while Luis Felipe will
start on the left. With Diego Godin’s return, it remains to be seen
whether Jose Gimenez or Stefan Savic will have to settle for a place on
the bench, or start against the Catalans.
The rest of the team will likely be the
same one that started in their 4-2 victory against Bayer Leverkusen.
Gabi and Koke will be the center midfield pairing, while Yannick
Carrasco and Saul Niguez will be on the left and right flanks
respectively, with Griezmann and Gameiro leading the line for the hosts.
As per the squad list released by Barcelona on their official site,
the Catalan giants will miss out on the services of the injured Javier
Mascherano, Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal, while goalkeeper Jordi Masip has
been left out of the squad due to ‘technical reasons.’
Since Mascherano had lost out his
starting position at the club to Samuel Umtiti and Arda Turan, Aleix
Vidal were never first team regulars, Luis Enrique’s starting XI will
still be at full strength but Barcelona may suffer due to the lack of
depth in their bench.
Barcelona are expected to start in their
usual 4-3-3 formation, with Ter Stegen likely to retain his place in
goal after some encouraging words from manager Luis Enrique. “Ter
Stegen? The times he has had to intervene he has done so well. I am
happy with the output of the goalkeepers.”
Figuring out the correct midfield trio
for this tie may pose as a dilemma for Enrique. Iniesta is probably the
one player assured of the starting role, while the remaining 2 places
will have to be occupied by either Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets or
Andre Gomes.
Messi, Neymar and Suarez are
irreplaceable as the front 3, while Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti, Gerard
Pique and Sergi Roberto will likely retain their places in the squad for
this tie. Taking Mascherano and Turan’s places on the bench will be
Denis Suarez, Mathieu and Rafinha.
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