Barcelona Manager Xavi Hernandez is coaching for his job – or at least to see his job until the summer – according to some reports, which say he could be removed after a bad first leg or general elimination at the hands of Naples in the Champions League. He is set to return to a form that brought him the most success for his trip to the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
The Blaugrana have few forwards available, with only Lamine Yamal, Vitor Roque and Robert Lewandowski at Xavi's disposal, and all three started in their win over Celta Vigo at the weekend. However AS Diary I believe Xavi will switch to four midfielders on Wednesday night. Their plan is to use central defender Andreas Christensen in the pivot role, which has been tested in recent weeks, with Frenkie de Jong and Ilkay Gundogan flanking the middle. Pedri will be the fourth midfielder, playing nominally from the left.
🚨 Rival watch: Osimhen will be able to play for 50-60 minutes against Barcelona. @sport pic.twitter.com/W6YsAz4F3R
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) February 18, 2024
Lamine Yamal will start his seventh game in a row with Robert Lewandowski in the middle. At the back, Pau Cubarsi, 17, will go down to the bench, and Ronald Araujo will be joined by Inigo Martinez. That leaves Joao Cancelo at left back again and Jules Kounde will try to turn his form back on the right.
On the bench, Raphinha, Fermin Lopez and Roque are likely to be Xavi's first choices to change things up. In general, the first stage of European ties can be cagey, and undoubtedly Barcelona does not want to give up too soon against Napoli. However, the balance between caution and ambition will be difficult for a team that has conceded 22 times in 12 games in 2024, and has just two clean sheets in that run.
