Despite the poor summer window, Barcelona have made a stellar start to their campaign and Hansi Flick will now be hoping his players can carry this momentum into the Champions League.
Barcelona will head to the Stade Louis-II Stadium on Thursday night to take on AS Monaco in Round 1 of the new and revamped Champions League season. And much like the La Liga, the Bluagrana will be eager to show a statement of intent in Europe.
Without a doubt, the Catalans will be the favourites to win this particular tie however, Monaco have also made a very positive start to their campaign and like Barca, they are also undefeated in four matches. These two sides met during the summer window in a friendly and Monaco won that match 3-0 but Thursday’s game will have a completely different intensity.
Barcelona’s team news and injury updates:
Christensen, Ronaldo Araujo, Fermin Lopez and Marc Bernal are all long-term injury absentees and neither of them is expected to return to action before the next international break.
Gavi and Frenkie de Jong have both returned to training which is a big boost for Hansi Flick but they still need to build up their fitness.
Dani Olmo was the only major summer signing for Barcelona but in a major blow, the midfielder picked up a hamstring injury during Sunday’s 4-1 league win at Girona and he will be out for around five weeks.
This is a huge setback for the Barcelona manager because he currently does not have another top-attacking midfielder in his squad. Raphinha had been playing in the No. 10 before Olmo was registered by the club and until Dani Olmo returns, Raphinha will take up the same duty.
Ansu Fati is also back in training and he could be available for selection in midweek. Even though he is not going to start, the 21-year-old’s return will be a big boost for Hansi Flick.
With Raphinha moving into midfield, Ferran Torres will come into the starting lineup and play on the left wing. Robert Lewandowski is the current top scorer for Barcelona and he, along with Lamine Yamal will hold onto their usual positions.
Barcelona predicted lineup vs Monaco:
Predicted Starting Lineup(4-2-3-1): Ter Stegen; Kounde, Pau Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, Balde; Marc Casado, Pedri; Ferran Torres, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha; Robert Lewandowski.
