Barcelona coaches evaluating using four midfielders against Atletico Madrid – report

Barcelona will lock horns with rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday night as they look to get their La Liga title challenge up and running again after the draw against RCD Espanyol.

The Catalan giants were held to a draw by the neighbours in their last league game, following which they were pushed to the brink by CF Intercity in the Copa del Rey. Xavi will be hoping that his players produce a strong reaction and silence the critics with a victory against Atletico.

While the manager has given the day off for his players, planning for the clash against Atletico Madrid is continuing behind the scenes.

And according to Javi Miguel of AS, the Barcelona coaches are evaluating the possibility of fielding four midfielders for Sunday’s clash.

Xavi opted to rest Pedri for the midweek cup tie and the Spaniard is all but guaranteed to return to the starting XI against Atletico Madrid. He will likely be partnered by Frenkie de Jong, who also did not play a single minute against Intercity.

As for Sergio Busquets, his involvement is not yet certain, considering that he played the entire 120 minutes for Barcelona in the midweek encounter. However, given the importance of the match, the 34-year-old club captain is likely to be called upon by Xavi.

But, given that the performances have not been up to the mark, there could be a tweak in the system with the Barcelona coaching staff contemplating deploying another midfielder on the pitch, which would be Gavi.

It would be so that one of Pedri or Gavi could end up playing on the left flank as a false-winger, a tactic that Xavi has resorted to at times this season.

Robert Lewandowski’s suspension leaves a gaping hole in the attacking unit, but the manager has reportedly decided to use Ansu Fati as his centre-forward against Atletico Madrid.

Ousmane Dembele is also likely to start on the flanks and in case Xavi does not opt to go with four midfielders on the pitch, Raphinha could get a look-in. In that scenario, the Brazilian would start on the right and Dembele would move to the left, as per the report.

Either way, Ferran Torres and Memphis Depay are set to be dropped after their lackadaisical displays against Intercity.