Xavi’s plans for Barcelona’s upcoming matches against Shakhtar Donetsk and Alaves

Barcelona have experienced a difficult period lately. Although a loss to Real Madrid was followed by a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad, the team has not looked completely dominant.

In light of these poor run, Barcelona do have a chance to bounce back as they take on relatively weaker opponents in Shakhtar Donetsk and Alaves, before the international break kicks in.

Xavi’s plan for upcoming matches

According to a report from SPORT, Xavi has been the first to realise Barcelona’s weakening form in recent weeks and is planning to come up with a few changes.

The idea is to give breaks to some of the key players, who have accumulated too much game time in recent weeks and are looking exhausted.

Joao Felix, Joao Cancelo, and Alejandro Balde are among the players who have been ever-present figures in the starting eleven.

These players, therefore, could be set for a bit of a breather, as Barcelona take on Shakhtar and Alaves this week.

Players in contention to feature this week

As Xavi looks to rotate things around, some players are going to benefit and may feature prominently in the upcoming matches.

One of them is Andreas Christensen. The Dane was rested against Sociedad but could be preferred against Shakhtar this midweek.

Oriol Romeu is another player who may get to start, as Ilkay Gundogan either switches back to an interior position or returns to the bench.

Robert Lewandowski racked up an hour of action against Sociedad and could see more game-time against Shakhtar. Pedri, too, could see some minutes, although the Barça staff will be very careful with the Spaniard.

It must also be mentioned that Gavi is suspended for the clash against Alaves on the weekend, which could lead to more minutes for Fermin Lopez.