Possible Barcelona line-up against Real Madrid in the 2024 Super Cup final
The truth is that Barcelona arrived at the Spanish Super Cup final against Real Madrid with a detour. Xavi Hernandez has not yet been able to find the key to enable his players to string together two or three good games.the team still displays a very worrying pattern of inconsistency, some players are well below their best selves, and the desired excellence now seems more hollow than ever.
It is with this grim panorama that Barcelona arrives at the Clasico in Riyadh. And while it is true that the numbers continue to support Xavi’s project – he has lost just four games this season –It is also true that he did not just close the match or convince his arrival, he signed up for suffering from the beginning of the season.
In any case, inside the team and headquarters they are grasping at straws before the Sunday appointment. They hope this will serve as a turning point, just as it did a year ago when the team entered the final with many doubts and uncertainties but knew how to make up for lost time and produced their best game of the Xavi era.defeating Real Madrid with a resounding score of 3:1 and taking Barcelona’s Super Cup.
Xavi fielded an impressive eleven players in that final: Ter Stegen between the sticks, four-man defense: Araujo, Kounde, Christensen and Balde; with Sergio Busquets as the helm and anchor of the team, accompanied by Frenkie and Pedri, and in attack Lewandowski became the leader flanked by Dembele and Gavi..
Of these eleven, Xavi will not be able to count on four players for Sunday’s match. And this is not exactly small talk, since we are talking about pillar football players: Ter Stegen, Sergio Busquets, Dembele and Gavi. Yes, they can repeat only seven, with the curiosity that the same defense will bring to the field: Araujo, Kounde, Christensen and Balde. In this sense, the only “handicap” is that Balde is not at the same level as last year.
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This will be Ancelotti’s possible eleven in today’s Clasico of the Spanish Super Cup final.
Obviously, the absence of Ter Stegen between the sticks is a big headache for Xavi, since Iñaki Pena, although a more than noticeable goalkeeper, does not have the resources and experience of a German goalkeeper in such important events. The loss of Gavi is also a major “handicap” for the Blaugrana as he is the soul of the team and in this case Joao Felix, pure talent but without the Seville drive, is the player called upon to replace him. In the reversal, Oriol Romeu’s disappointment forced the technicians to detain Frenkie. The big news compared to last year’s eleven events will be the presence of Gundogan.. The Germany international is expected to be an important player in this match. In fact, we must not forget that he already scored in the last game against Real Madrid, although it was not enough to avoid defeat. Much is expected from Pedri, too, despite the Canarian recovering from a muscle injury that sidelined him for almost a month.
The attack opens up a range of doubts. Lewandowski will be safe to reprise his role in the last Super Cup final. All indications are that Ferran will take Dembele’s place on the right after Raphinha’s injury is confirmed.. Obviously, Ousmane is a disruptive and exciting player, not at all similar to Ferran’s characteristics, while another possible replacement could be Lamin Yamal, more similar to the French forward, but with the problem of being only 16 years old. On the left, everything points to Joao Felix, who played good minutes against Osasuna. Although it cannot be 100% ruled out that Xavi will ultimately prefer to play with four midfielders, as he did a year ago. Then Sergi Roberto or Fermin would have plenty of numbers to be in the eleven..
Possible Xavi line-up for Clasico today
Therefore, it is most likely that Xavi will make a bet on eleven similar to the following: Iñaki Pena, Araujo, Kunde, Christensen, Balde; Sergi Roberto, Gundogan, De Jong; Ferran Torres, Lewandowski, Joao Felix.
Be that as it may, it seems clear that the eleven entering Sunday’s Classic will be vastly inferior to the team that shone in Riyadh a year ago. Xavi’s task is therefore even greater, if possible, also taking into account that Real Madrid arrives physically and mentally full after their performance against Atlético Madrid in the semi-finals.
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