Barcelona will clash heads with Dynamo Kyiv away in Ukraine on Tuesday night knowing that a win would be enough for them to secure a place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League. The Catalans suffered a dismal 1-0 defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid last Saturday and lost Gerard Pique to a long-term injury in the process. Hence, all is not well at Barca but at least their form in Europe this season has been excellent, to say the least.
Ronald Koeman will probably opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation and will be forced to make a few changes to his first-team for this upcoming encounter versus Mircea Lucescu’s players in midweek.
4-2-3-1 Barcelona Predicted Lineup To Face Dynamo Kyiv
Defence
Marc-Andre ter Stegen will lineup in goal for Barca after failing to keep a clean sheet versus Atletico Madrid on Saturday. Pique will be out of action after suffering a sprained knee, so we can expect Koeman to deploy Frenkie de Jong as a makeshift centre-back alongside Clement Lenglet as the pair try to stop Dynamo from scoring in midweek.
Sergi Roberto will also be sidelined for this game because of a right thigh injury which he picked up in the dying embers of the game against Diego Simeone’s side. Therefore, Sergiño Dest will be nailed-on to start at right-back while Jordi Alba fills in on the other side as the left-back. Koeman will ask both of them to be adventurous so that they can offer enough support to the front players.
Midfield
Rique Puig could get a rare start alongside Miralem Pjanic as they look to win most of the 50-50 battles at the centre of the park. The terrific trio of Philippe Coutinho, Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembele will play just ahead of them as part of Koeman’s attack. Neither of them managed to register a goal on Saturday, so they will have to be far more deadly with their shooting if Barca are to come away with a victory from Ukraine.
Pedri and Francisco Trincão will be available for selection on the bench but could come on to influence the game in the second half if needed.
Attack
Antoine Griezmann will get the nod to spearhead the Catalan outfit’s attack up top. The French attacker has been far too inconsistent in terms of his offensive contributions this season, so he needs to produce a much-improved performance when he laces up to face off against the Dynamo defenders in midweek.
Martin Braithwaite will have to settle for a place on the bench as he awaits his chance to shine as a second-half substitute if required.
