BARCELONA, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 29: (L-R) Facu Roncaglia of CA Osasuna, Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona ... [+]
Winning their last three matches in all competitions, FC Barcelona hope to prolong strong form which has seen them score 11 and keep a trio of clean sheets by seeing off Cadiz at the Estadio Ramón de Carranza on Saturday.
Speaking at his prematch press conference yesterday, head coach Ronald Koeman said that he expects Barca to have a “lot of the ball” in their La Liga tie.
“They [Cadiz] seem to be having a hard time winning at home, but they’re getting good results, and it’s a tricky ground where we have to be focused to play at our best level and score,” the Dutchman added.
Not embarking on the trip to Hungary midweek, where the Blaugrana beat Ferencvaros 0-4 in the Champions League, Marc Andre ter Stegen is to return to man the sticks for his team.
Oscar Mingueza, who has been a fine stand in for the likes of the injured Gerard Pique, will continue at center back partnered by Clement Lenglet. On the flanks, Sergino Dest is the right back and Jordi Alba the left back looking to feed the midfield and attack.
Forming the double pivot for the first time in a while, mainly due to the latter’s injury on international duty for Spain, Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets are the focal part of Koeman’s 4-2-3-1 system.
Likewise rested as their ‘keeper was, Philippe Coutinho and Lionel Messi will occupy the left and right wings.
In central attacking midfield and as a lone striker, Antoine Griezmann and Martin Braithwaite are now unswitchable from the first XI thanks to hitting the back of the net a combined eight times in under a calendar month.
FC Barcelona should line up like this against Cadiz in La Liga on Saturday.
All this of course means that there is no place in the fold for either Pedri or Ousmane Dembele. But with Juventus arriving in the Catalan capital on Tuesday, they may get their chance to help seal Group G on the continent ahead of advancement to the UCL knockout phases next year.
Back on a domestic front, the prime objective here is to keep some sort of pace with Atletico Madrid, who play Valladolid a couple of hours earlier, and Real Sociedad, who contest an Alaves that beat Real Madrid on Sunday night. The Basques are 10 points ahead of FCB, but there are two games in hand to contest that could see that lead cut down to just six.
