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When Barcelona and Deportivo Alaves met earlier this season, Robert Lewandowski scored a sensational hat-trick to seal the match inside 45 minutes.
Since then, the opponents’ season has not gone too properly with them now sitting in seventeenth place, only one level forward of Espanyol on the leaderboard.
Barcelona, in the meantime, are in a world of ache themselves in La Liga after dropping their lead and now discovering themselves seven factors behind Actual Madrid.
Hansi Flick’s males don’t have any room for error within the home competitors and the approaching weeks will probably be essential if they’re to engineer a comeback. With the Madrid derby simply across the nook, they are going to have critical possibilities to battle again.
Barça Common brings you three speaking factors forward of Barcelona vs Deportivo Alaves.
Inigo’s return
Barcelona’s flying begin to life underneath Hansi Flick was largely down to 2 elements – the proper implementation of the high-pressing construction and the exact offside entice.
The staff’s defensive duo of Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez stylistically slot in like a hand in a glove and thus didn’t make the staff really feel the absence of Ronald Araujo or Andreas Christensen for shut to 6 months.
Araujo’s return from harm coupled with Martinez’s health blow, nevertheless, noticed the Uruguayan gifted a string of video games underneath Flick. Whereas the centre-back was first rate, it’s clear that he didn’t get near Martinez’s ranges.
The Basque star, in spite of everything, has operated like a frontrunner from the start of the season not solely together with his defensive contributions but in addition his upkeep of the offside entice.
His composure, decision-making, and distribution have been sensational and it’s clear that Araujo has not fairly finished sufficient to warrant changing Martinez who has been probably the greatest on the earth this season.
Again from his harm and set to return tomorrow, it’s fairly clear that the veteran star warrants his place again within the beginning lineup. Not for any fault of Araujo’s however his personal high quality.
Time for a tactical twist?
Begin or relaxation Lewandowski?. (Picture by Eric Alonso/Getty Photos)
Barcelona’s ahead trio have been in nice kind all season, with Raphinha and Lamine Yamal wreaking havoc down the flanks and Robert Lewandowski bagging the targets upfront.
In latest months, nevertheless, the Polish striker has seen a dip in his kind and is now not as medical in entrance of aim as he was within the preliminary months of the season.
Lewandowski has began on the bench on just a few events this season, primarily to get relaxation given his age. Nonetheless, it’s doubtless now time for Barcelona to start dropping his for tactical causes given his low output.
On the three events, the Pole has began on the bench in latest video games, the staff has gone on to win by wholesome margins and it’s thus clear that his presence on the sector shouldn’t be a should.
Tomorrow, Flick may thus look to begin the veteran on the bench and alter his techniques. With Dani Olmo unavailable to play as a false 9, he may look to deploy Ferran Torres because the quantity 9.
The final time Barcelona tried an identical manoeuvre, they beat Valencia by a 7-1 scoreline they usually may look to do this once more tomorrow night time.
Szczesny should present his class
Hansi Flick confirmed that Wojciech Szczesny was his most popular goalkeeper as soon as once more forward of Barcelona’s conflict towards Deportivo Alaves, and it’s clear that the Polish goalkeeper has finished sufficient to remain within the coach’s good books.
His interval of rise started within the Spanish Tremendous Cup earlier this 12 months and there was no wanting again since as he has utterly changed Inaki Pena within the beginning lineup.
Nonetheless, it’s clear that Szczesny’s place because the staff’s numero uno goalkeeper is much from clear, particularly given his moments of lapse of focus that seem to strike sport after sport.
Szczesny has already been despatched off as soon as this season, made pointless tackles within the field, taken poor selections popping out of his field, and has appeared very shaky in possession.
Whereas his shot-stopping mettle can’t be doubted, his skill on the ball has at all times remained a query and made him a weak hyperlink.
It’s thus time for him to step up and present that he may be extra dependable in possession and sew collectively 90 minutes with out making errors. In any case, Inaki Pena shouldn’t be too far behind on the pecking order.
