"There will be rotations, there are tired players", said Xavi Hernández, coach of FC Barcelona in the preview of the match against Athletic Club. Finally there are four changes compared to the starting eleven that beat Villarreal (3-0) on Thursday.
The great novelty is that the Catalan coach lined up four starting midfielders for the first time, with Sergio Busquets returning and keeping Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Gavi in the eleven.
The eleven of the FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Koundé, Eric Garcia, Balde; Busquets, Of Jong, Pedri; Gavi; Dembele and Lewandowski.
Without Christiansen or Araújo, injured and with Piqué on the bench, Jules Koundé repeats in the axis of the defense this time together with Eric Garcia. Alejandro Balde also returns to eleven to occupy the left side. Jordi Alba and Marcos Alonso rest.
In defense Sergi Roberto, who had three consecutive starts on the right side, will repeat when it seemed that Xavi would opt for Héctor Bellerín, already recovered from his injury and who played the last ten minutes of the victory against Villarreal.
In midfield, Xavi slipped that Busquets would return to the starting eleven: "When it comes to coverage, understanding the start at the right time, for me, Busi is a master, with great experience and has the gift of knowing how to be, It's spectacular for the group," he said. It will be Frenkie de Jong who accompanies the captain as an interior, as well as Padri.
The Barça forward to receive Athletic has the indisputable Robert Lewandowski. He will be accompanied upstairs by Ousmane Dembélé, who will return to the eleven on the right after starting from the bench in the match against Villarreal. The question is whether Xavi will put Gavi as a false winger on the left or Pedri. It must be remembered that in the three games of the Terrasa coach at Barça he put the youth squad in that position, although he had not repeated the formula for a long time.
In addition to the return of Ernesto Valverde to the Blaugrana coliseum, the meeting offers the addition of the presence of the international Íñigo Martínez, surrounded by rumors about a possible signing by Xavi Hernández's team that have not yet dissipated by not renewing the Ondarroa center-back contract that expires on June 30 next.
The eleven of the Athletic Club: Unai Simón; De Marcos, Yeray, Iñigo Martínez, Yuri; Ander Herrera, Vesga; Nico Williams, Zarraga, Berenguer and Inaki Williams
The Bilbao team will seek to score points in a field that is hostile to them like few others, since they have not won in it for more than two decades, since 2001.
