Barcelona make the trip across town to square off against their neighbours, Cornella at the Camp Municipal de Cornella Stadium. The two teams clash in the Round of 32 stage of the Copa del Rey competition.
Barcelona were recently humbled in the Spanish Supercup Final by Atheltic Bilbao. The Basque side came back from behind twice to clinch the title off Ronald Koeman’s hand. The Cules will not leave any margin for error for this Thursday evening kick off.
Ronald Koeman will be without the services of Gerard Pique, Philippe Coutinho, Sergio Roberto and Ansu Fati. The abovementioned players are all treating their respective injuries and will play no part in Barcelona’s opening Kings Cup fixture.
Here’s how Barcelona are expected to take to the field against Cornella –
Barcelona Predicted Line-Up Against Cornella
Defence
Barcelona’s second-choice goalie, Neto, will be taking command between the sticks. The goalie started the season for Barcelona when Ter Stegen was injured and has not seen any playing time come his way since the German made his return. Sergino Dest is most likely to start in the right-back position. The centre back pairing of Ronald Araujo and Samuel Umtiti are most likely to take to the field for this Copa del Rey fixture. Jordi Alba will seek to make amends for his miserable night against Athletic Bilbao in the Supercup Final.
Midfield
Sergio Busquets is likely to be rested for this fixture against Cornella at the Camp Municipal de Cornella Stadium on Thursday evening. Riqui Puig is expected to start in midfield along with Miralem Pjanic, the duo came off the bench in Barcelona’s 3-2 Supercup Final defeat a couple of nights ago. Pedri is expected to retain his place in the side after a string of impressive performances recently.
Attack
Antoine Griezmann and Martin Braithwaite will both be a part of the line-up with Barcelona missing several of their attackers due to injuries. The third spot in the attacking line could be occupied by summer recruit Fransico Trincao. The Portuguese youngster has not had several opportunities at Camp Nou since his arrival and will seek to make the most of the minutes on Thursday evening
Predicted Line-Up
