Barcelona set to rotate heavily for Royal Antwerp clash in the Champions League

Tensions are flaring up in Barcelona right now as the Catalan giants are coming off a disheartening 2-4 loss against city rivals Girona in La Liga.

Following Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw against Real Betis, this was Barça’s chance to properly make a dent in the league and go two points within their rivals, and one point within Girona.

Michel’s men meant business, though, and took the lead early on as Artem Dovbyk scored in the 12th minute. Eventually, a goal each from Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan was not enough for the hosts to take anything from the game.

Reports of a broken dressing room have already surfaced around Barcelona, with claims that certain players think they know more than the coach, Xavi.

Be that as it may, Xavi now has to look ahead as Barcelona travel to Belgium to take on Royal Antwerp in the Champions League. The Catalans have pretty much secured first place, but a win would go a long way in boosting their confidence.

This is also the time that the regular players in the team get time to rest, with the fringe members of the squad getting minutes to prove their worth.

As such, it is not surprising that SPORT report that Barcelona will rotate heavily for this game.

Several key players are not even on the traveling list, starting with Ronald Araujo. Lewandowski, Gundogan, and Frenkie de Jong will not make the trip, either, in the hopes of recovering them fully for the game on the weekend against Valencia.

Oriol Romeu and Sergi Roberto are expected to be a part of the starting lineup for the game, as per the news. The latter will likely take his place as the right-back, while the former starts as the defensive midfielder.

Joao Cancelo is traveling with the team, but it seems very unlikely that he gets even a single minute of game time tomorrow.

Fermin Lopez, though, could definitely start — his first since the 2-1 win against Deportivo Alaves, a month ago.