On The Barcelona Podcast, we hold the view that no team should be overlooked. Any team in La Liga can beat any other La Liga team on any day, and Deportivo Alavés is no different. Yet, with Paris Saint-Germain awaiting Barcelona on Tuesday, Ronald Koeman has a few decisions to make. Starring an injury crisis in the face, the Dutch manager will need to think long and hard about how willing he is to continue to play his regulars and not rest them before that fateful Champions League tie.
Rotation shouldn’t be a sign of disrespect to Alavés though. If any of Riqui Puig, Konrad de la Fuente, or Junior Firpo are good enough to play for Barcelona, then they’re good enough to get three points against any team in Spain. In his presser, Koeman hinted that the injury crisis means that not only does he have few choices to rotate, but he also values getting the three points and trying to take that momentum against PSG:
Not many rotations because we don’t have too many players to pick. We have another session tomorrow and we’ll decide the team, and we’ll play with a team to try and win the game, that’s the most important thing. If we win then psychologically you are not as tired as if you don’t. We want to take the three points and be ready for Tuesday.
This is a risky proposition, especially if a key player gets injured. But clearly Koeman’s two goals are win and don’t get hurt. It won’t be a complete overhaul of the squad, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Junior Firpo give Jordi Alba a rest and Riqui Puig give Pedri a chance to relax. Trincão, who came on late against Sevilla, could come in for one of Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembélé; Lionel Messi got his rest last weekend against Real Betis.
Koeman also hinted that Sergiño Dest and Miralem Pjanic could return in time, and they may potentially come off the bench in hopes that Dest can see the field to start in the Champions League. Gerard Piqué and Ronald Araújo will not be back in time, and certainly wouldn’t have been risked against Alavés.
Barcelona’s Basque opponent started the season well, but has since fallen off quite a bit. Abelardo managed a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid back in November, but January was as good for Barcelona as it was bad for Alavés. Yet, they still remain above the relegation zone, due largely in part to their striker tandem of Joselu and Lucas Pérez. Joselu has a team-high five goals and Pérez is doing a bit of everything with four goals and a team-high three assists.
31-year-old Edgar Méndez has walked into the starting line-up since returning to Spain from Mexican club Cruz Azul in January. Most of the regular starters consist of Spanish veterans, including midfielders Tomás Pina and Manu García. Due to Alavés’ defensive set-up, expect plenty of possession for Barcelona. The defense will have their hands full with the two forwards, but this match should come down to the Blaugrana’s superior attackers firing the Catalans to the win.
Expected line-ups:
Barcelona (4-3-3): ter Stegen; Alba, Lenglet, Umtiti, Junior; Mingueza, de Jong, Pedri; Trincão, Messi, Dembélé
Alavés (4-4-2): Pacheco; Duarte, Lejeune, Tachi, Navarro; Rioja, Pina, Battaglia, Méndez; Joselu, Pérez
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
