Barcelona enjoyed only the good side of The Classic last season, and woke up to sunny days and happy training atmospheres every time they took to the field against Real Madrid.
This time around, however, they are dealing with the other side of the coin, and their situation is anything but promising.
While the defeat to Real Madrid was indeed narrow, the truth is that the 2-1 scoreline is flattering on them and that they could have easily lost by a far greater margin.
Adding to that the team’s never-ending list of injuries that is only getting longer, the flawed defence that is getting cut open like a slice of butter, and the team’s overall lack of cohesion, Hansi Flick has a lot to work on as the season advances.
Tomorrow, the team take to the field for the first time since the defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu and it will be against Elche at home.
Barça Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Elche.
The devastating midfield blow
If Flick could voluntarily choose a player in his squad to be injured for even as short as a week, Pedri would be the last player he would choose, for the Canary Islander is simply too fundamental to his plans.
Words cannot describe how important the youngster is to Flick’s plans, for virtually every Barcelona play goes through him on the field.
His press resistance is the basis on which Barcelona’s possession game thrives, and he also happens to be the single most important component of the pressing system off the ball. News of his injury, needless to say, is simply devastating.
After over a year of being fit, the midfield ace is now forced to sit at least a month out of action, and Barcelona have no one to blame but themselves for running him into the ground.
As he recovers, however, Flick must find solutions to work in the prodigy’s absence, and that complicated mission begins tomorrow against Elche.
All eyes, needless to say, will be primarily on Frenkie de Jong and Marc Casado, who are expected to start in midfield against Elche. Concurrently, however, it will also be interesting to see if any of the The Masia prospects have chances to impress.
Big injury returns
While the team laments the absence of Pedri and struggles to cope in midfield, the forward department will happen to celebrate the return of two big names on the same night.
After weeks of being ruled out, Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo will return to the squad for Sunday’s clash in what comes as a massive boost to Flick’s side – especially given how they have struggled in the department in recent weeks.
The recent The Classicin fact, was the biggest example of how the team was short-staffed in the department as a half-fit Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres were forced to start on the night, with Marcus Rashford being the only fully-fit starter.
Lewandowski and Olmo’s return, thus, brings back some much-needed depth in the department, and the manager can look to count on both players at least as substitutes on the night.
At this point in the season, the bench is more important than ever, and having an option to pick from is a boon in itself. Further, both players will look to impress and earn starting positions for themselves in the coming weeks.
The chance for Araujo?
Barcelona’s defence was left red-faced in the recent La Liga game against Real Madrid as The Whites left the back-line stranded time and time again with runs through the middle.
The combination of Eric Garcia and Pau Cubarsi struggled to keep up with Kylian Mbappe’s pace, Vinicius Jr.’s trickery, and the quick transitions, as both players lacked the pace and physique to dominate in that respect.
Ronald Araujo, despite coming on as a late substitute, conspicuously improved the Catalans’ defence after arriving on the scene, and Barcelona began defending Real Madrid’s counters with more dominance.
Needless to say, Flick will be tempted to give the Uruguayan another run-in tomorrow, and it remains to be seen who will be dropped from the existing duo.
While one would naturally expect Garcia to be the player dropped, recent rumours have surfaced citing that it could indeed be Cubarsi who is sidelined as part of his workload management.
It will be a massive game for the club captain, who still has to prove that he has what it takes to be a regular starter in Flick’s system.
