How Barcelona could line up against Huesca

9:52am on Monday 15th March 2021
By Stefan Bienkowski

Barcelona welcome Huesca to Camp Nou on Monday evening with the perfect opportunity to project themselves back into a strong position in this season’s La Liga title race.

Following Atletico Madrid’s 0-0 draw with Getafe on Saturday evening, Ronald Koeman’s side can now leapfrog Real Madrid into second place and sit just four points behind Diego Simeone’s title challengers with a win.

Fortunately for the Catalan giants, Koeman should be able to put out a relatively full strength side in pursuit of a vital three points.

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In defence, Koeman will continue to stick with Marc-Andre ter Stegen in goals, behind a back three of Ronald Araujo, Clement Lenglet and Oscar Mingueza. Gerard Pique may feature, but the senior defender currently remains a doubt for the clash.

This will then likely lead to the Dutch head coach sticking with his tried and tested wing-back options of Sergino Dest on the right flank and Jordi Alaba on the left, providing the necessary width through the match.

In midfield Koeman is unlikely to rock the boat too much with his tactics and should stick with Sergio Busquets at the heart of his team, with Pedri on one side of the experienced Spanish defender and Frenkie de Jong on the other to make a trio in the middle of the park.

Up front Lionel Messi will undoubtedly keep his spot in the centre of attack and is likely to be joined by Ousmane Dembele. Although the French forward missed a number of chances against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, he did show good movement and linked up well with the team. As such, Koeman is likely to stick with the forward.