After a refreshing 4 days off Barça are back in action tonight, live from the Camp Nou. Kicking off at 9pm Local time, Barça will be facing Celta Vigo. In a bid to keep level with Real Madrid before the first Clasico of the season next weekend. Coming into the game, it’s true to admit that the confidence would’ve taken a hit from that game in midweek. Admittedly we didn’t play incredibly well, but that game was defined by the scandalous officiating on the night. Denying us a clear and legal equalising goal from Pedri and an even more clear penalty in the final minutes. We made mistakes in the lineup and didn’t play to the level we know we can achieve. But that was a blatant robbery. Rightfully so, the confidence would’ve taken a bit of a blow.
The best way to react from that game at the san Siro would be to put in a statement performance tonight against a very tough side, Celta Vigo. Three days after tonight’s game, we’ve got Inter Milan at home, in a vital game. Going into that game with confidence is crucial. Finding out scoring boots too is also going to be massive for the upcoming games. We know how free flowing we can perform. On our day, we can score goals for fun. Since coming back from the international break, the goals have dried up a little. But of course as the games go on, they will return. Kicking off tonight with a very convincing performance is a an absolute must.293993
A quick look at our opponents:
As we are all well aware, Celta Vigo are no pushovers. Every single time we play the,m it never turns out to be easy, especially away from home. However, they also like to cause us many problems at home too. Which is of course something we need to avoid. Celta are a team that not only bolster young talents, but are also a team that carry some quality in experience.
A man who springs to all of our minds when we think about Celta Vigo, is none other than Iago Aspas. A player who is always near the top of the scoring charts in La Liga. Aswell as someone who tends to transform into Lionel Messi whenever he faces us! He’s caused us many problems over the years, so like always, we’ll need to keep an eye on him. We’ve also got many other connections to this team in the shape of ex Barça players. Oscar Mingueza, Carlos Perez and Denis Suarez.
When it comes to their league form, they currently find themselves in a respectable 11th place, on 10 points. They’ve won 3 of their last 5 games. With their only 2 losses coming away at Atleti and Valencia.
Predicted lineup:
In terms of our lineup, considering we’ve got a massive game in the champions league on Wednesday. I think Xavi will make a few rotations for tonight’s game. For me, the players who are most likely to get a rest are Dembele, Gavi and Pique. We’ve got some new names in the squad list for tonight. Young 19 year old left footed centre back, Chadi Riad has been called up by Xavi. Our back line has faced an onslaught in recent weeks meaning that Eric Garcia and Pique are our only 2 fit centre backs. After Christensen came off injured against Inter. Kounde is expected to be ready for El Clasico, which would just be fantastic. But it’s very exciting to see such a highly rated talent like Chadi being called up. And I really wouldn’t be surprised if he started tonight.
Xavi was glowing about him in his press conference earlier, Among the new names in the squad, we also see the return of Frenkie De Jong, which is brilliant news. Pablo Torre is also reportedly expected to get minutes against Celta, and for me it will be very exciting to see him get his league debut. He really could be the answer to many of our problems.
In attack, I think Dembele needs a rest. He didn’t have a great game in midweek, and we need him fresh for the return leg on Wednesday. Raphinha deserves to start in his natural position off from the right, which means the left hand side will be free for Ansu or Ferran. Ansu will most probably just edge it and it would be lovely to see him grab his first home goal of the season. Seeing Ferran come on and build up his confidence would be great to see too. Leaving of course our talisman, Robert Lewandowski leading the line down the middle.
My aspirational lineup:
MATS
Roberto- Eric- Riad- Balde
Torre- Frenkie- Pedri
Raphinha- Lewandowski- Ansu
VISCA BARÇA!!!
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