The ultimate matchday of the UEFA Champions League, scheduled for subsequent week, pits Barcelona in a tricky race to safe direct qualification to the knockout phases.
Hansi Flick’s aspect sit in ninth place after the win over Slavia Prague final evening, and are inside touching distance of direct qualification.
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Whereas a win over FC Copenhagen on the Spotify Camp Nou subsequent week could also be sufficient, profitable with an enormous purpose distinction will considerably enhance the staff’s probabilities of reaching their goal.
The large hurdle for the supervisor, nevertheless, is the midfield the place he will probably be unable to rely on each Pedri and Frenkie de Jong.
In spite of everything, the previous was and is dominated out, whereas the Dutchman is suspended for the sport by means of an accumulation of bookings.
Flick’s choices
As furthered by in a current report, Flick has some concepts in his thoughts for the sport in opposition to Copenhagen.
The centre of his plan is fielding Eric Garcia as one of many pivots, particularly with each Pedri and De Jong unavailable.
Pedri is out injured for a month. (Photograph by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Pictures)
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Garcia has accomplished nicely as a defensive midfielder for Barcelona when requested to play within the place this season. He has performed as a centre-back in current video games, however conditions may drive one other change in place for the versatile star.
The larger query lies round who will companion him because the second deep-lying midfielder on the evening, and the supervisor has a number of choices to select from.
Marc Bernal and Marc Casado, for sure, are essentially the most pure replacements who can step into the newly created emptiness.
The latter, nevertheless, has seen his prominence below Flick fall, and Bernal stands out as the higher positioned of the duo to start out on the evening. In spite of everything, the supervisor needs to indicate the participant that he counts on him.
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Past the 2 Marc’s, nevertheless, Flick additionally has the choice of fielding each Dani Olmo and Fermin Lopez on the evening, most certainly with the previous alongside Garcia and the latter because the No.10. In spite of everything, he has gone for that setup on at occasions this season.