With less than a week left for the 2024/25 season to start, FC Barcelona will be involved in their traditional curtain-raiser of the campaign – the Joan Gamper Trophy match later tonight.
This year, the Blaugrana will lock horns against Ligue 1 outfit AS Monaco in what will be new manager Hansi Flick’s debut in front of the home fans at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Montjuic.
With the La Liga opener against Valencia on the horizon, Flick will be aiming to fine-tune his team while also hoping to give some minutes to the players who did not take part in the pre-season.
However, Barcelona will go into the game without the services of Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Ronald Araujo, Gavi, and Ansu Fati, all of whom are still out injured.
Meanwhile, Fermin Lopez will also be unavailable as he will have a short vacation following his involvement in the Euros and Olympics.
Factoring in everything, here’s how Flick could set his team up against AS Monaco in the curtain-raiser.
Defence
Kounde to continue at RB? (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
Following Sergi Roberto’s departure announcement on Sunday, Marc-Andre ter Stegen is now officially the first captain of FC Barcelona and will lead the team out tonight against Monaco, after addressing the fans in the presentation ceremony before.
Even though Eric Garcia and Pau Cubarsi have returned after a successful Olympics campaign with Spain, they are unlikely to start tonight. Instead, we are likely to see Andreas Christensen pair up with Inigo Martinez at the heart of the Barcelona defence.
Flanking the centre-backs ought to be Jules Kounde, who appears set to continue at right-back this season, and Alejandro Balde, who will be playing in front of home support after almost seven months.
The likes of Alex Valle, Hector Fort, and Gerard Martin should feature at some point in the game.
Midfield
Pablo Torre set to return. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty…
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/bernal-pablo-torre-start-predicted-barcelona-lineup-to-face-as-monaco/
Author : Michel Durant
Publish date : 2024-08-12 09:07:39
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