Barca first XI line up against Espanyol?

Enjoying nearly two weeks off to rest, recuperate and train in the Catalan sun, Barcelona play out the most important game of their season when they travel swiftly to Cornellà to take on city rivals Barcelona. ‘Espanyol, during a massive La Liga derby.

Barca come into this match with a very simple task: to win and they will mathematically claim their first La Liga title in four years against their local rivals at their home stadium.

There is a scenario where Barca would already start the game as champions if the two Madrid teams don’t win their games before the Catalan derby, but a win for Real or Atlético would put pressure on Barca themselves. and the three victory points to officially end. the title race.

Defense

The 12-day interval between Barça’s last game and the derby was crucial to fully recover from a team on its last legs after a very busy period after the international break, but with the squad completely healthy (except for Sergi Roberto) and fully equipped. therefore there is little doubt as to which 11 players will take the field on Sunday.

Time to reassemble the Gala XI, with the BACK quartet of Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Alejandro Balde guarding Marc-André ter Stegen’s goal and looking for another clean sheet and providing the platform for the six players up front to them to score enough goals to clinch the championship.

Midfield

Sergio Busquets is playing his last Barcelona derby and the captain would like nothing more than to pick up three points and lift the trophy next week at home to Real Sociedad, La Liga policy says Barca cannot officially celebrate the title on the route.

To help him dominate midfield, Busquets will have his three regular team-mates: Frenkie De Jong, Pedri and Gavi are healthy, rested and ready for war. The battle in midfield will be crucial on Sunday, and these are the best men for the job.

Attack

Xavi has yet to assemble the Gala XI since Ousmane Dembele’s return from injury. He chose to carefully manage the Frenchman’s minutes and wait for the right moment to give him his first start in almost four months.

But with the 12-day break and a full week of training, there’s no better time than now to get Dembele back in line. Raphinha did his best to get him over and had good time starting overall, but that’s Dembele’s position and he’s ready to unleash hell on Espanyol. Possible XI: Ter Stegen; Koundé, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Pedri, Busquets, De Jong; Dembele, Lewandowski, Gavi (4-3-3).

How do you think Barcelona should line up against Espanyol? Let us know your thoughts, predictions and squads in the comments below!