Hansi Flick has a number of significant injury worries to concern himself with as Barcelona prepare to take on Osasuna on Saturday night.
The German manager has enjoyed a largely successful start at Camp Nou but injuries have begun to pile up, meaning Flick has had to dip into the club’s crop of homegrown youngsters. However, Barca are dealing with the absences well, bouncing back from defeat in Monaco to defeat Villarreal and Getafe in La Liga.
Barca lead Real Madrid at the top of the table by four points, but can they extend that advantage before Los Blancos battle Atletico Madrid in the capital derby on Sunday?
Here’s the lineup Flick could deploy on Saturday evening.
GK: Inaki Pena – Marc-Andre ter Stegen is out for the season and Barca have been linked with all manner of goalkeepers in recent days. However, Inaki Pena has filled in during the short term and he’ll continue his run in the team here.
RB: Jules Kounde – Received some big praise from Flick in the aftermath of the Getafe win. Has little competition for the right-back spot.
CB: Pau Cubarsi – One of the Barca youngsters introduced by former manager Xavi last season, Cubarsi oozes confidence at only 17 years of age and gets in the team with Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen both sidelined by injury.
CB: Inigo Martinez – Only three players have played more minutes in La Liga for Barca so far this season than Martinez, who has started all seven games so far.
LB: Alejandro Balde – Offers an electric presence from left-back, but the 20-year-old is still searching for his first goal contribution of the campaign.
DM: Eric Garcia – With the likes of Christensen, Fermin Lopez, Marc Bernal and Dani Olmo out, Garcia has grabbed some game time in midfield. It went terribly against Monaco and both Gavi and Frenkie de Jong could be back soon to edge him out of the starting XI.
DM: Pedri – Still only 21, the Euro 2024 winner enjoyed a 13-minute cameo against Getafe but should grace El Sadar’s turf from the start on Saturday night.
RM: Lamine Yamal – Leading La Liga for assists with five so far, Yamal has been the difference maker in a number of Barca games already this season. It’s very probable he’ll impress again at the weekend.
AM: Pablo Torre – Torre took his chance on his first start of the season, grabbing a goal and an assist as Barca thrashed Villarreal 5-1. He may have to bat away competition from Marc Casado for game time.
LM: Raphinha – The Brazil international followed up his obliteration of Villarreal with a more subdued display against Getafe. Nevertheless, only two players have scored more often in La Liga than Raphinha so far in 2024/25.
ST: Robert Lewandowski – One of those two marksman is Lewandowski, the other being Ayoze Perez. The Poland striker looks as lethal as ever, hitting the back of the net seven times already in Spain’s top flight.
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