Ronald Koeman will allow Barcelona to play against Paris Saint-Germain in the eighth finals of the Champions League on Wednesday evening in a brand new system. The Spanish top club apparently plays in a 3-4-3 system in the reunion with the Parisians, with Frenkie de Jong filling in the role of central defender due to the absence of Gerard Piqué and Ronald Araújo. The game in the Parc des Princes starts at 9 p.m.
Óscar Mingueza and Clément Lenglet appear to form the three-man defense together with De Jong, with Marc-André ter Stegen on target. The flanks of the midfield of los Azulgrana are for the account of Sergiño Dest and Jordi Alba, with further central roles for Sergio Busquets and Pedri. From an offensive point of view, Koeman comes out with Lionel Messi, Ousmane Dembélé and Antoine Griezmann.
Griezmann has been the main victim of the successful 5-3-2 system in recent games. He stayed on the bench for ninety minutes in the league match with Sevilla (0-2) and in the Copa del Rey match with the Andalusians (3-0 after extra time) he took 57 minutes as a substitute. Griezmann did appear at the starting signal against Osasuna (0-2) last Saturday, but that was mainly because Dembélé got a rest with an eye on the duel in Paris. Koeman took the Frenchman to the side in Pamplona after 67 minutes of play.
Barcelona must make up for a 1-4 defeat in Paris from the first game three weeks ago at the Camp Nou. Five days later, a misstep against Cádiz (1-1) followed, but since then Koeman has won four games in a row in all competitions, with a goal difference of ten to zero. In a competition context, the current number two of LaLiga has even been unbeaten for sixteen games: three draws and thirteen victories.
Line-up Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Mingueza, De Jong, Lenglet; Dest, Busquets, Pedri, Alba; Messi, Griezmann and Dembélé.
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