Barcelona will play Napoli in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 in the Camp Nou on Saturday. While the 1-1 draw achieved in the first round in Italy gives Barca a slight advantage, the Catalans must chase a home victory from the initial whistle to avoid unwanted difficulties in the latter stages of this decisive match.
As explained in much more detail in our latest The Barcelona Podcast, the Blaugranes are under a lot of pressure as a result of their failure to win La Liga or Copa del Rey. Another disappointing end to their European campaign would add further stress on the already difficult relationships between the board, the coaching staff and players – a situation of turmoil that Culers around the world have been dreading for several months.
Listen to The Barcelona Podcast for our detailed discussion on Barca’s Champions League chances, tactics, Dembele’s return, Arthur’s no-show and more:
Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal are both banned for the match against Napoli. As if that didn’t make Setien’s midfield selection hard enough, Arthur’s decision to stay in Brazil despite still being under contract with Barcelona made matters even more difficult.
With Samuel Umtiti out due to injury (again) and youngster Ronald Araujo struggling to recover full fitness, it is pretty obvious that Barcelona’s back-line will be lead by both Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet – with Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto (as I discussed at The Barcelona Podcast, a better choice than Nelson Semedo for this match) supporting from the wings.
While it is very likely that Setien will end up starting Antoine Griezmann upfront, I would personally opt for the freshness and unpredictability of Ansu Fati alongside Luis Suarez, with Lionel Messi dictating the tempo of Barcelona’s attack a couple of meters behind them when in possession.
Setien has been experimenting with several formations lately, eager to find out the system that best matches his own ideals with the strengths of the players at his disposal. The traditional 4-3-3 and even a 3-5-2 could be viable options but, in my eyes, a 4-1-2-1-2 (or 4-4-2 rhombus formation) would give Barcelona much-needed defensive balance while also enabling Messi to make plenty of connections with his teammates upfront.
Here is my preferred Barcelona starting XI for the upcoming Champions League clash against Napoli:
Despite the absence of several key players, I trust that Barcelona will qualify for the next Champions League round by defeating Napoli 2-1 at the Camp Nou on Saturday.
Francesc Tomàs is a Catalan columnist featured in ESPN, The Guardian and many others. Born and raised minutes away from the Camp Nou, Francesc has been sharing his opinionated views with thousands of faithful Culer listeners via The Barcelona Podcast since 2017.
