"Barcelona look to bounce back from a painful defeat in El Clasico with a home game against newly-promoted Elche at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium. The Catalans continue to struggle to play consistent football in the middle of an injury crisis that got even worse with the confirmed absence of Pedri for the next several weeks, and the first game without The Wizard is against the surprise package of La Liga after the first three months of the season."
"Barça had a full week to rest and prepare for this one and have limited options due to injury anyway, so we expect Flick to go with a strong XI to make sure of the points at home ahead of two important away games against Club Brugge and Celta Vigo. The coach has settled on Pau Cubarsí and Eric Garcia as his favorite center-back partnership and Ronald Araujo seems to be more of an attacking bench option"
Barcelona face Elche at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium after a painful El Clasico defeat. The squad is hampered by an injury crisis made worse by Pedri's confirmed absence for several weeks. Hansi Flick plans to use a strong starting XI at home before two important away fixtures. Pau Cubarsí and Eric Garcia are the preferred centre-back pairing while Ronald Araujo is more likely to be used from the bench. Jules Koundé and Alejandro Balde are expected to retain full-back roles. Frenkie de Jong will assume the midfield playmaker role with Marc Casadó alongside. Fermín López is projected at number 10 as Dani Olmo returns but remains limited. Robert Lewandowski has resumed training but is not yet ready to start, so Ferran Torres is expected to lead the front line. Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford should keep their places.
Read at Barca Blaugranes
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