Xavi has revealed Barcelona’s line-up for the LaLiga match against Valencia. The coach again clears a starting spot for Frenkie de Jong, so that Gavi has to settle for a place on the bench. At Valencia, Justin Kluivert also gets the confidence of his trainer Gennaro Gattuso. The game starts at 9 p.m. in Mestalla.
After a disastrous Champions League campaign, Barcelona has to settle for wintering in the Europa League. The Catalans already knew on Wednesday evening before the meeting with Bayern Munich that elimination in the billion-dollar ball was a fact and then went down 0-3 at home against of the Rekordmeister. Compared to this Champions League match, Xavi changes his starting eleven in three positions.
Eric García is at the heart of the defense with Jules Koundé, with Marcos Alonso starting from the bench. Jordi Alba also returns to the base. This is at the expense of Héctor Bellerín, Alejandro Balde starts as right back. Xavi has chosen to finally pull Pedri back a line. As a result, Ansu Fati starts as left winger and Franck Kessié is also referred to the bench. Pedri forms a midfield with De Jong and Sergio Busquets, who could count on a heavy whistle concert on Wednesday after Xavi decided to take the routine to the side after an hour.
On the side of Valencia, Gattuso has made a base for Kluivert. The 23-year-old wing attacker was also allowed to start from the first whistle against Real Mallorca (1-2 loss) last weekend and has managed to maintain the confidence of his trainer despite the defeat.
Line-up Valencia: Mamardashvili; Thierry, Gabriel, Comert, Gaya; Guillamon, Foulquier, Almeida; Kluivert, Samuel Lino; Cavanic
Barcelona line-up: Ter Stegen; Balde, Koundé, Eric Garcia, Alba; Busquets, Pedri, F. de Jong; Dembele, Ansu Fati; Lewandowski