Frenkie de Jong and Ansu Fati will return when Barcelona and Inter Milan face off in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
Barcelona will hope to get the UEFA Champions League campaign back on track when they play hosts to Inter Milan at Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday night. And Xavi Hernandez has greeted positive updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Franck Kessie has resumed training this week, handing Barcelona a boost ahead of the game against Inter. The Ivory Coast international is in the matchday squad. But Hector Bellerin, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde, and Memphis Depay remain on the sidelines.
Xavi spoke about Kounde during his pre-match press conference, expressing his hopefulness to have the Frenchman at his disposal for this weekend’s highly-anticipated El Clasico. The Barcelona boss also provided an update on Frenkie de Jong.
“We’re not counting on him [Kounde] for the match against Inter, barring any surprises. For El Clasico we’ll see, he could be available but it will depend on his sensations. He is training hard.”
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“My feeling is that he will be available for El Clasico. He’s [de Jong] fine, he’s coming off a small injury, we’ll see if he’s ready to start or maybe in the second half.”
Despite Xavi’s comments, de Jong should return to the starting lineup on Wednesday. The Dutch midfielder will replace Gavi in the middle of the park. But the rest of the midfield unit should remain intact, with Sergio Busquets and Pedri starting alongside de Jong.
Ansu Fati was a livewire off the bench versus Celta Vigo and should feature for Barcelona against Inter Milan. The teenage prodigy should join Robert Lewandowski in the final third. Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha will compete for the third spot, with the former likely to start.
As for the defensive unit, three left-backs featured at the back against Celta Vigo, but that should change on Wednesday. Eric Garcia will likely replace Marcos Alonso as Gerard Pique’s partner at the heart of the Barcelona defence. Alejandro Balde should move to the left-back berth, with Sergi Roberto starting on the right flank. Finally, Marc-Andre ter Stegen will take his place between the sticks.
Predicted Barcelona XI: ter Stegen; Roberto, Pique, Garcia, Balde; de Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Fati