How Barcelona could line up against Sevilla

9:00am on Friday 26th February 2021
By Martin Macdonald

Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman will bring back a number of key players for this Saturday's La Liga clash against Sevilla.

On Wednesday, the Blaugrana faced Elche and comfortably won 3-0 thanks to a double from Lionel Messi and a goal from Jordi Alba.

It was a positive result for the Blaugrana after having been poor in their previous two matches, losing heavily to PSG in the Champions League before drawing 1-1 with Cadiz a few days later in the league.

For the Elche game, usual first-team players Clement Lenglet, Sergio Busquets, Antoine Griezmann, and Ousmane Dembele were given a rest.

That group should return for the massive match versus Sevilla, which means a place on the bench for Samuel Umtiti, Miralem Pjanic, Martin Braithwaite, and Francisco Trincao.

Braithwaite did impress versus Elche by laying on two assists, but it won't be enough to guarantee him a start on Saturday.

Koeman has a choice between Oscar Minguez and Sergino Dest for the right-back position, and will probably go for the latter after he was introduced for the last 13 minutes against Elche. Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba should retain their spots from Wednesday despite being substituted.

Busquets will return into the midfield three alongside Pedri and Frenkie de Jong.

The front three will consist of Messi, Griezmann, and Dembele.

Ansu Fati, Sergi Roberto Ronald Araujo and Philippe Coutinho remain injured.

Barcelona head into this mammoth La Liga fixture just two points ahead of Sevilla in the table, with Los Nervionenses having the advantage of a game in hand. A couple of weeks ago the pair swatched positions before Barcelona won third spot back, so any opportunity to put space between themselves and Sevilla is a big one.