Barcelona prodigy to start against Atletico Madrid, attacking duo set to be benched

Barcelona’s Copa del Rey clash against CF Intercity was much more tougher than anticipated for the Blaugrana as they were pushed to the brink. But, ultimately, Xavi’s side came out on top with a 4-3 scoreline courtesy of an extra-time goal by Ansu Fati.

And, according to Javi Miguel of AS, that strike is likely to have earned the 20-year-old forward a starting berth in the game against Atletico Madrid at the weekend.

The Catalans are set to be without Robert Lewandowski for the match as his three-game ban was upheld by the Court of Arbitration of Sport, while Barcelona have decided against lodging yet another appeal.

Xavi had opted to rest the Poland captain for the cup tie last night as well, having gone in with the frontline of Ousmane Dembele, Ferran Torres, and Memphis Depay.

But, according to the aforementioned report, two of the three forwards who started – Torres and Depay – have blown their chances of featuring in the starting XI at the weekend after their meek displays against CF Intercity.

Javi Miguel writes that both Memphis and Torres will, in all likelihood, be benched when Barça visit the Civitas Metropolitano at the weekend. And, Fati, who was omitted from the lineup for the cup tie, is almost certain to start as the centre-forward in the absence of Lewandowski.

Meanwhile, another attacker who is in line to start against the Rojiblancos is Dembele. The Frenchman has been directly involved in most goals during Xavi’s tenure as Barcelona’s manager and was on target last night as well.

So, Fati and Dembele are set to get the nod against Atletico Madrid, with the third attacking slot likely to be taken up by either Raphinha or Gavi as a false-winger.

Torres and Depay, meanwhile, will have to work hard to convince that they can be valuable to Xavi’s team after yet another missed opportunity on Wednesday.