Barcelona take on Celta Vigo next up as the Catalan giants look to keep their La Liga dreams alive with a win. Any more slip-ups would provide Real Madrid with a massive advantage in the race for the title, which Barca cannot afford. Although they won their last match against Athletic Club, they did not look convincing at all.
The encounter with Celta Vigo could be equally tricky as they are fresh from their win against Real Sociedad and would be looking to mount a considerable challenge to Quique Setién’s team. The manager, on his part, would be forced to make a few changes for this match, considering the congestion of fixtures.
Predicted Barcelona Lineup Versus Celta Vigo
Defence
Marc André ter Stegen would be deployed in his usual goalkeeping duties for the side, and the German has given no scope to his manager to complain about him. For this match, Junior Firpo could be placed on the left-back position, and the youngster’s pace could come in handy.
On the right-hand side of the defence, Roberto could take up his position ahead of Semedo, who played the entire length of the last match. The gaffer would require experienced players at the heart of the defence for this encounter, and thus we believe that Lenglet and Pique would get the preference ahead of the youngsters.
Midfield
Rakitic scored the solitary goal of the match which gave Barcelona the much-needed win against Athletic. The Croat came off the bench and therefore should be fit enough to be in the starting line-up for this match. Riqui Puig made an appearance in the last game and impressed the onlookers with his performance. His name should be in the team-sheet this time with Busquets not being available due to his one-match suspension.
De Jong has been suffering a calf injury and thus would be unavailable for this encounter. In the absence of these two, Arthur Melo should be in the team.
Forward
Ansu Fati had come off the bench in the last match, and the youngster should start from the beginning when Barcelona take on Celta Vigo this weekend. Lionel Messi is a constant name, and the manager would not risk dropping the Argentine superstar at such a crucial stage of the season. Our bet is on Luis Suarez partnering the other two at the forward line with players like Griezmann and Braithwaite waiting on the bench to jump into action when the requirement arises.
