Buckle up for what will be a fantastic week of futbol.
After a tragic weekend that saw FC Barcelona´s team doctor Carles Minarro Garcia suddenly pass away, Barca head into an important week with Tuesday´s Champions League 2nd leg with Benfica and Sunday´s La Liga clash with Atletico Madrid.
Tuesday v Benfica-Champions League 2nd Leg
After securing a 1st leg 1-0 win in Lisbon with 10 men, Barca return home Tuesday with confidence and belief they can secure passage onto the Champions League quarterfinals. However, they head into the match emotionally drained just 3 days after Minarro Garcia´s passing, and it will be interesting to see how it´s handled.
While Barca´s match against Osasuna was postponed, Benfica won 3-0 over Nacional on Saturday in a game they were up 2-0 by the 23rd minute and cruised through the rest of the match. Alvaro Carreras is suspended on a yellow card from the 1st leg and Benfica will surely miss him in their quest to defend Lamine Lamal on Barca´s right side.
Barca will surely play with Lamal, Lewandowski, and Raphinha up front, with a back four of Jules Kounde, Iñigo Martinez, Ronald Araujo, and Alex Balde, but the question is who coach Hansi Flick selects in the middle of the park to play alongside Pedri. Two choices really-Gavi or Dani Olmo and Frenkie de Jong or Marc Casado?
Gavi surely is one of the players most affected by Minarro Garcia´s death after spending last season rehabbing his ACL injury with him, and for such an emotional young player it could be a risk. Olmo was sacrificed in the 28th minute due to Pau Cubarsi´s red card in the 1st leg, and he´s my choice here.
Flick has turned to de Jong more often in the past month, and I see him choosing the Dutch midfielder over Casado and saving the young Catalan for the Atletico Madrid match on the weekend.
Sunday´s La Liga Match v Atletico Madrid
Atletico suffered a 2-1 defeat at Getafe Sunday, while Real Madrid struggled through a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano, leaving Barca holding onto the La Liga lead on goal differential over Madrid and with a 4-point cushion with Atletico with a game in hand.
Atletico at the Wanda is a difficult team to beat, and Diego Simeone will have his team ready, however they will be coming off Wednesday´s 2nd leg Champions League clash with Real Madrid, a match they must throw everything into in hopes of erasing the 2-1 1st leg deficit.
Expect Cubarsi to enter back into the lineup against Atletico, and Flick will rotate his midfield based on his decisions againt Benfica, but I don´t expect him to rotate out Lamine, Lewandowski or Raphinha in a match of such importance.
Buckle up for what will be a fantastic week of futbol.