Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Matthew Abbott

Barcelona predicted lineup vs Manchester United as Xavi forced into double change

Xavi will be forced to make at least two changes from the first leg when Barcelona face Manchester United in the return leg at Old Trafford following a combination of injury and suspension.

The Barcelona boss had a couple of issues coming into the match at Camp Nou, and now these selection decisions have been even further complicated over the past week. One that remains unchanged, though, is that winger Ousmane Dembele remains unavailable with a hamstring problem and has not travelled to Manchester as part of the club's 20-man strong squad.

Neither have midfielders Gavi or Pedri. The former is suspended after collecting a third yellow card across the club's Champions League and Europa League campaigns when stopping Fred from counter-attacking by hauling the midfielder down with his shirt in the 73rd minute.

READ MORE: Why Robin van Persie was at Ten Hag's press conference ahead of Barcelona fixture

Pedri did not even make it to half-time of the first leg before being unable to continue after going to ground clutching his knee and was subsequently substituted for Sergi Roberto. One positive piece of injury news, though, is that Sergio Busquets has travelled after returning to the substitutes bench over the weekend.

In the circumstances, the 34-year-old may now be set for a sooner-than-expected return to the starting XI in the absence of Pedri, which may have played a part in the veteran not being risked from the bench in La Liga. Roberto may well replace Gavi, especially after scoring the opener and assisting the other goal in a 2-0 win over Cadiz in the meantime.

Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati, who both flanked Robert Lewandowski during that match, are other options to bolster the forward line alongside the former Bayern Munich centre-forward. In defence, Marcos Alonso and Jordi Alba were both afforded a rest as unused substitutes at the weekend, while Ronald Araujo was suspended, meaning all three should return.

Jules Kounde has played the full 90 minutes in each of the last eight Barcelona matches, so it's safe to assume the player will complete an unchanged back four despite scoring an unfortunate own goal at Camp Nou. In goal, Marc-Andre ter Stegen has missed just one match in the club's league and European campaigns, which was a dead-rubber against Viktoria Plzen, and remains the undisputed number one.

Barcelona predicted XI: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Alonso, Alba; Kessie, De Jong, Roberto; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Fati

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.