Barcelona Coach Quique Setién is expected to go in with his strongest eleven when the team take on Leganes at the Camp Nou in Copa Del Rey Pre-Quarter Final stage.
FC Barcelona vs Leganes Preview
Barcelona will be playing their second match in this season's Copa del Rey competition tonight at the Camp Nou when they host Leganes. The relegation-threatened la Liga side will not be such a tough opponent for Barcelona at the Camp Nou unless we deliberately complicate things.
Following the almighty scare against Ibiza and the defeat against Valencia, Setién will not be in a mood to have too many experiments with the team line-up tonight. He would prefer to go with the best eleven, as he realizes the need for the players to understand his style of playing.
Setién is Expected to Start with the Strongest Eleven Possible
Usually, Copa Del Rey competition is used by coaches to give the fringe players a lot of playing time. At least that was the case till last season, especially in the early rounds. But the change of format has altered that thinking, as there is no second match to salvage a bad result. At least for our benefit, we play this match at the Camp Nou.
For Setién, the biggest worry would be to get his team buys into his philosophy. In the build-up to the match against Ibiza, I mentioned why it is coming at a bad time for Setién. He would ideally like to play more or less the same eleven for some matches in a row. He needs to understand how his team reacts to his philosophy and what adjustment he needs to make.
In that sense, he doesn't have the luxury to try too many changes in the team for this competition. As mentioned, there are some positives with the timing and venue of this game. The next two matches for Barcelona including this one is happening at Camp Nou and are against lesser opponents. That should make life easier for Setién as right now he needs the players to have confidence in his playing way.
Two good victories in the next two matches, may dispel all the doubts and propel the team to a brilliant run. In that context, at least in the next three matches including the tough away match at Real Betis, don't expect much change in lineup.
With Neto injured, Ter Stegan will be in for a rare start in the Copa Del Rey Competition. Pique could be rested, so do Busquets and Alba. The big question will be who will start alongside Messi and Griezmann - will it be Ansu Fati or will it be Alex Collado. I would prefer to give Alex Collado a chance on the right-wing. If Ousmane Dembélé gets the all-clear, then we could see him coming on the right somewhere in the second half.
Possible Barcelona Line-Up against Leganes:
Ter Stegan, Semedo, Lenglet, Umtiti, Firpo, Rakitic, Vidal, De Jong, Alex Collado, Messi and Grezmann.
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