Barcelona, with a 4-1 win at the Camp Nou against their Italian opponents AS Roma are all but through to the semi-finals. The match was much closer than the scoreline suggested. With a little bit of a luck and better finishing from Roma, they could have still posed a threat in the second leg of the tie. Barcelona dominated the possession as expected but they lacked real attacking intent for quite a long period of time.
Barcelona is on track for a treble this season as they have opened up 11 points gap between them and second-placed Atletico Madrid in the league. The La Liga title is pretty much in the bag for Valverde’s men and they are setting sights on the Champions League and the Copa Del Rey. On the contrary, As Roma is fighting to stay in the top 4 race as they just one point ahead of the fifth-placed Inter Milan. In the Champions League, they went past Shakhtar Donetsk on the virtue of an away goal in the previous round.
It is highly unexpected that the Italian outfit can turnaround the tie but as we know football is a funny game and Roma will still be hoping for a miracle deep-down.
Let’s take a look at how the Blaugrana’s might lineup for their second leg tie in Italy.
Formation: 4-3-3
Defence:
Ter Stegen will be expected to start as Valverde won’t take any risk with their tried and tested goalkeeper. Samuel Umtiti and Pique will be the centre back pairing. Alba will start at left back. He came from the bench against Leganes where Barcelona secured a comfortable victory. Semedo might start ahead of the versatile Sergio Roberto. Roberto started in the first leg and played in the weekend as well against Leganes at the left back position. With the tie pretty much in Barcelona’s control Semedo might get some game time ahead of Sergio Roberto.
Midfield:
Sergio Busquets will start in the middle for Barcelona. He was rested in the weekend clash against Leganes and it will be expected that he will be back in the lineup. He is expected to be partnered by Ivan Rakitic and the very experienced Andres Iniesta.
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Attack:
Luis Suarez and Lionel Mess will be the usual suspects up front with Dembele providing them help from the left-hand side. Messi will play on the right but generally will be in a free-flowing role where he will dropping back to get the ball and dictate play from there. Luis Suarez will start up front for Barcelona.
