Hansi Flick will likely name an unchanged starting lineup when Barcelona and Real Madrid face off at the Santiago Bernabeu in the season’s first El Clasico on Saturday.
Barcelona will aim to strengthen the grip over the summit of La Liga when they lock horns with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the season’s first El Clasico on Saturday night. And Hansi Flick does not have any new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal, and Ferran Torres remain on the sidelines. However, Eric Garcia might be in contention to take on Real Madrid this weekend, although the travelling squad is not available yet.
During his pre-match press conference, Flick did not provide any team news updates. However, the German tactician answered a question on whether Fermin Lopez will start a second successive game after his exploits against Bayern Munich earlier this week.
The Barcelona manager said, “I haven’t decided yet. In the last goal against Bayern, he was very involved with the ball, indeed. He is showing that he is capable of doing what we ask of him. That he showed this performance in the last game was a great sign.”
Flick also discussed tactics during the presser, saying, “We have different ideas in our approach. Against Bayern we realised that we had to improve certain things. In this case we will have to adapt to Madrid. There are always players who go very fast. Now we are playing Madrid, who are a very prepared team but I trust my team because they are doing great. I liked to see how we went up after the 1-1 draw against Bayern.”
Fermin Lopez should reprise the no. 10 role, with Raphinha and Lamine Yamal continuing as the two wide attackers. Robert Lewandowski will lead the line for Barcelona against Real Madrid on Saturday. As for the midfield unit, Pedri and Marc Casado should continue in the double pivot, with Gavi coming off the bench again.
The backline should see no changes, with Inigo Martinez and Pau Cubarsi continuing their successful central defensive pairing. Meanwhile, Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde will retain their spots as the full-backs. Finally, there is no looking past Inaki Pena between the sticks, with Wojciech Szczesny waiting for his debut.
Predicted Barcelona XI: Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, Balde; Casado, Pedri; Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha; Lewandowski
