Busquets benched, Fati starts in a 4-3-3: How Barcelona could lineup against Villarreal

“At Barça there are no transition years. If success is not achieved, as the president said, there will be consequences. Also for me. I don’t want to look for excuses.”

Xavi’s words ring loud ahead of Barcelona’s clash against Villarreal tomorrow. The coach, more than anyone else, understands that the pressure on him is mounting, and the team needs immediate results.

After all, the current administration took several huge risks by selling parts of the club to bring immediate revenue, which funded their star-studded transfer window.

Ahead of the World Cup, Barcelona cannot afford to slip up further. Tomorrow is the ideal game for them to fix their morale and get back to winning ways.

Unai Emery’s Villarreal started the season brilliantly, but have fallen off recently, winning just one of their last five games in the league.

Xavi went with arguably the best available lineup against Madrid, starting Jules Kounde in the centre alongside Eric Garcia. Tomorrow, there will be a few changes though, hopefully for the better.

Here is how we, at Barça Universal believe the Blaugranes will lineup against the Yellow Submarines.

Defence

Barcelona’s back-four was largely in shambles, faced with the task of containing Karim Benzema, Vinicius Jr, and Federico Valverde. And while the midfield proved to be of little help defensively, individual mistakes from the defence made matters significantly worse.

One of the players at fault – for two goals, no less -, was Eric Garcia. However, Xavi assured during his presser that the Spaniard is a guaranteed starter for him, and, therefore, will likely start in central defence tomorrow.

Jules Kounde was arguably the only decent performer from the backline, and should retain his place.

At right, back, we predict Sergi Roberto to continue given the lack of any other options. Hector Bellerin has just returned from a two-week lay-off, and will likely not directly get a place in the XI.

Finally, we saw Jordi Alba off-the-bench vs Madrid, but his cameo did inspire a spark down the left side. Therefore, the veteran defender could start as the left-back vs Villarreal.

Unquestionably, the final piece of the puzzle will be Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who has largely been impregnable this season.

Midfield

Sergio Busquets was expected to be on the bench on the weekend, but start as the defensive midfielder. Unsurprisingly, the captain looked off-the-mark and has to be blamed for the first goal.

Against a Villarreal side that breaks quickly, we believe Xavi would give the mantle to Frenkie de Jong, who has done well in a largely unfamiliar role against Inter Milan and Madrid.

Gavi‘s appearance off-the-bench was impressive, too, which gives him a shot in the XI, paired alongside none other than Pedri.

Attack

Eder Militao did a fantastic job marking Robert Lewandowski out of the game during El Clasico, but the Pole will be looking to keep up his brilliant goal-scoring form as he takes on the best defence in La Liga.

All said and done, Ansu Fati has to be rewarded with a start this weekend. The youngster created Barcelona’s only goal, and came close to equalising on another two occasions. His off-the-ball movement, coupled with an eye for the goal, makes him the perfect second striker to operate alongside Lewandowski.

The last spot will be contended between Raphinha and Ousmane Dembele – neither of whom has been particularly impressive following the end of the break.

Raphinha might get the nod over the latter simply due to the fact that Dembele has played a lot more minutes and is also more susceptible to injuries.

Fati · Lewandowski · Raphinha
Gavi · de Jong · Pedri
Alba · Garcia · Kounde · Roberto
ter Stegen

Off-the-bench

We cannot look past Ferran Torres as a potential substitute in any condition tomorrow. The Spaniard looked energetic, creative, and a lot more courageous against Madrid, and got a well-deserved goal off-the-bench.

Franck Kessie has been criminally underutilized by Xavi this season, but is a constant sub in the second half. Expect more of the same tomorrow.

Should Dembele actually start as a substitute, we expect him to make an appearance at some point in the game, even if Barça is winning.

Finally, Alejandro Balde and Bellerin are great options for replacing the starting pair of fullbacks.