Barcelona look to continue their perfect start to the season and kick off a new European journey with a win as they welcome Dutch giants Feyenoord to Camp Nou for their Champions League league phase debut.
Here’s how we think Hansi Flick will line up his troops for Wednesday’s battle:
Defense
Barça cruised to a comfortable win against Valencia with Hansi Flick able to rest a few starters while the team didn’t have to spend too much energy in the second half, so we are expecting a strong team once again for the European
opener.
Eric Garcia broke his nose on Sunday and is suspended for this one due to his red card in Barça’s elimination game against Atlético Madrid last season, so Jules Kounde is guaranteed to start at right-back. Pau Cubarsí will start at center-back and we think Andreas Christensen, who has been healthy and performed well to start the season, will be picked as his partner ahead of Gerard Martín.
Xavi Espart has played every second of football so far and João Cancelo didn’t feature at all against Valencia, so we think the Portuguese will make his first start of the season at left-back to give Espart a chance to rest.
Midfield
The much-anticipated first start of new signing Rodri went as well as it could have on Sunday, with the Spain captain fitting in seamlessly and already having a big impact in midfield. He’ll start this one as well alongside Pedri and Fermín López, who is absolultely on fire to start the season and is forcing Dani Olmo to wait on the bench for his turn.
Attack
Lamine Yamal had his best performance of the season so far on Sunday, while Raphinha scored another goal and Anthony Gordon contributed with another assist as Barça’s front three continued their brilliant starts to the campaign against Valencia. There is zero doubt about their status as the starting attacking trio, and they will only come out of the lineup if they’re injured or Flick decides to rest one of them, which won’t be the case on Wednesday.
Possible XI: Joan; Kounde, Cubarsí, Christensen, Cancelo; Fermín, Rodri, Pedri; Yamal, Raphinha, Gordon (4-3-3)
How do you think Barcelona should line up against Feyenoord? Let us know your thoughts, predictions and teams in the comments below!
