De Jong, Balde start in a 4-2-3-1 – How Barcelona can line up against Alaves
De Jong, Balde start in a 4-2-3-1 – How Barcelona can line up against Alaves Newly-crowned La Liga champions FC Barcelona are in action tonight as they take on relegation-battling Deportivo Alaves away at the Mendizorrotza Stadium. While the title was wrapped up last weekend after they beat Real Madrid 2-0 at the Spotify Camp Nou, the Blaugrana are now aiming to reach the 100-point mark in the league. In order to achieve that, Hansi Flick & co.
will need to win each of their three remaining matches, starting tonight against Alaves. Barcelona go into the match without any fresh injury concerns, with Lamine Yamal and Andreas Christensen expected to be the only absentees. Meanwhile, key winger Raphinha will miss the match due to an accumulation of cards, having received his fifth yellow card of the La Liga campaign in the Clasico .
There will likely be some rotations made by Flick so that the players who have featured less in recent weeks get an opportunity. With that in mind, here is how Flick could set his Barcelona team up against Alaves in Vitoria. Defence There has been speculation about the goalkeeping spot and whether Flick will continue with Joan Garcia, with the Zamora Trophy at stake, or replace him with veteran shot-stopper Wojciech Szczesny.
However, during his press conference , the manager dropped a strong hint that Garcia will likely continue to man the goal. As for the defensive line, wholesale changes are likely, with Jules Kounde set to come in at right-back after being benched for the Clasico . Alejandro Balde to start at left-back?
(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) Meanwhile, Alejandro Balde , who has fallen behind Joao Cancelo in the pecking order, could get a rare starting opportunity at left-back. Captain Ronald Araujo ought to come in as one of the centre-backs, pairing up with Eric Garcia . Midfield Frenkie de Jong could finally make his return to the starting XI, having had to bide his time since returning from his injury.