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FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick will make big decisions in his midfield and attack when the Catalans take on Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday evening.
After retaining the Spanish Super Cup against bitter rivals Real Madrid and continuing their defense of the Copa del Rey with a last 16 win at Racing Santander, the reigning champions now return to La Liga.
Maintaining the club’s best record since 2015 with 11 wins on the trot is the main task against La Real, but that comes with a four-point lead ahead of Madrid’s defeat of Levante at the Bernabéu on Saturday afternoon to boos.
A similarly hostile environment could be expected by Barca at Anoeta, where La Real will not make it easy for their visitors to come away with a result as Flick has to make changes due to unforeseen circumstances.
FC Barcelona coach Flick will make changes in midfield and in attack
Flick is fortunate to be able to go for the same defense he did against Real Madrid, meaning Joan Garcia’s goal is protected by a back line of Alejandro Balde, Pau Cubarsi, Eric Garcia and Jules Kounde.
In midfield, however, it’s a double twist with Pedri and Frenkie de Jong coming in for Marcs Bernal and Casado, while they line up behind Dani Olmo and get the nod for the second time in a row – this time as CAM.
Olmo’s inclusion would usually mean that Fermin Lopez, who changed the game as a substitute last time, would end up on the bench again.
On the contrary, Raphinha misses training and is not fit enough to start. This means that Fermin is on the left wing and not Marcus Rashford as we often see in this situation.
While Lamine Yamal is a mainstay on the right, Robert Lewandowski comes in as the center 9 in place of Ferran Torres.
What FC Barcelona coach Flick said
“It will be a tough match because Real Sociedad have some fantastic players and they are in good form after their recent results. Their confidence has grown since then.” [Pellegrino] Matarazzo has arrived.’
“We don’t win games because of the name, but because of the attitude and mentality. That’s what I want to see in every game.”
FC Barcelona starting team USA Real society: García; Balde, Eric, Cubarsi, Kounde; De Jong, Pedri, Olmo; Fermin, Lewandowski, Lamine.
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