Barcelona versus Juventus. Lionel Messi versus Cristiano Ronaldo. First place in the group on the line. That all sounds like the biggest match of the Blaugrana’s season is about to take place, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The team’s La Liga form has been troubling to the point that it’s hard to tell what kind of team Ronald Koeman will put out against the Italian giants.
On this week’s podcast, Dan and Francesc discussed the reasons why the result has almost no bearing on the rest of the season:
In truth, Barcelona only has two objectives against Juventus. One, don’t get run off the pitch and concede enough goals to lose the group. Two, play well and find a way to take that into the weekend against Levante.
So that’s why this line-up could be the biggest mix of high profile starters and bench players that played in the last two Champions League matches against Ferencvaros and Dynamo Kyiv.
Lazy media will tell you all eyes are on what could potentially be the final showdown between Messi and Ronaldo. But honestly, Culers should be watching Coutinho, who said in the press conference prior to the match that he knows that he needs to be better:
“I demand a lot from myself and I am the first to know my performances haven’t been as expected. What I can say is that I’ve have worked hard mentally, though, and think I am stronger in that aspect now.”
With Ousmane Dembélé and Ansu Fati nursing injuries and Pedri having come off the bench in two straight matches, there is a good chance that front four will be Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Pedri and Coutinho.
In the double pivot, there will most likely be Frenkie de Jong and Miralem Pjanic against his old team, but do expect to see Carles Aleñá sometime in the contest. Pjanic’s performance should be watched closely as well after his recent comments about his lack of playing time:
“I want to play much more. I know I can give a lot more, and I have done well every time the coach has called on me. I don’t know what else I can do. I’m training well and I’m prepared to play more.”
With Ronald Araújo finally back to fitness, it’s a shame that Óscar Mingueza will probably not get another chance to redeem himself after his first half error against Cádiz. Araújo is the right choice though, and he should partner Clement Lenglet with Jordi Alba and Sergiño Dest in front of Neto. Marc-Andre ter Stegen has not looked right since he returned from offseason surgery, and another rest may not be the worst thing for the German goalkeeper.
For Juventus, they are also dealing with some injuries, not as many as Barcelona, but Italian legends Giorgio Chiellini and current back-up goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will not take part. Ronaldo will be taking part and Andrea Pirlo’s side haven’t lost a match since the 2-0 defeat in Turin to this very same Barcelona side. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for the Catalans.
Expected Line-ups:
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Neto; Alba, Lenglet, Araújo, Dest; de Jong, Pjanic; Pedri, Coutinho, Messi; Griezmann
Juventus (4-4-2): Szczesny; Sandro, Bonucci, de Ligt Cuadrado; Chiesa, Rabiot, McKennie, Kulusevski; Morata, Ronaldo
Dan Hilton is an American journalist, broadcaster, and current Editor-in-Chief of BarcaBlog. Extensive work as a play-by-play broadcaster, producer behind the scenes, and quite average player in his younger years has given him a well-rounded and informative perspective on the sport. Alongside BarcaBlog founder Francesc, Dan started The Barcelona Podcast in 2017
