The coach must decide who will accompany Lewandowski in the Cup classic
The question is whether he will bet on three forwards or with the four midfielders
One of the great news that Barça’s win in Elche left is to see Ansu Fati’s happy face celebrating his goal, as well as the liberating cry of Ferran Torres after converting his. Although coaches look at many more things, it is undeniable that the strikers live off the goal, their particular thermometer when calibrating their performance.
And the reality is that in the League, Ansu and Ferran did not see the door since the distant month of October, a rather worrying fact in two forwards of an offensive team like the Catalans. His performance at the Martínez Valero should serve as a turning point for both in the most decisive stretch of the season, with Wednesday’s classic as the next challenge.
One of the big questions that Xavi has to face in the ‘final’ against Real Madrid at the Spotify Camp Nou is who will accompany Robert Lewandowski in Barça’s attack. To begin with, the coach must decide if he maintains the formula with three pure forwards or recover the drawing with the four midfielders, which gives more balance and control to the team.
With the 0-1 in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, Barça is not obliged to rush towards Courtois’s goal, but neither can they allow themselves to speculate on their slight advantage because that would be a serious mistake.
Xavi’s options for this match multiply. Blessed problem. We cannot forget that Raphinha, who did not play in Elche due to suspension, returns to the team and was the player who had been occupying the right wing of the Barça attack. The Brazilian was being decisive with his goals and his assists, making the most of Dembélé’s absence due to injury.
Possibly he is the one with the most options to start playing against Ancelotti’s men due to the merits accumulated in previous games.
Dembélé’s sensations
Precisely, the French striker could still have a slight chance of being on the list for the duel against the whites. At Barça they don’t want to take any risk and his recovery was slightly delayed but Xavi already said that his return to the team would depend on his feelings.
The coach was hopeful of recovering more than one piece – apart from De Jong – to face the game that can put them in the final of the Copa del Rey.
Dembele, against Madrid
| Valentí Enrich
To day of today it seems quite unlikely that Dembélé can reach the classic but it will be necessary to wait for the next days. In any case, the best news is that Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres yesterday already showed signs of recovering confidence. The ’10’ went from less to more against Elche and the Valencian did not stop generating danger from the right, crowning his performance with a great goal.
Xavi’s Barça has recovered two of its forwards in the most crucial stretch of the season, when the titles are decided. And the goal of the Catalans is to achieve a historic double that would mean a huge step in the challenge of achieving success again after some difficult years.
