Official: Barcelona squad list to take on Huesca — Star defender returns

The Gameweek 27 tie against Huesca will be a very crucial match in the race to become La Liga champions. Considering that Atletico dropped points yesterday, Barcelona cannot afford to lose points against the team placed at the bottom of the league table.

A win would take the Blaguranes within four points of the top. Barcelona would be playing a league match on Monday after almost ten years, with the last match ending in 5-0 win against Villareal in 2011. Before that, in 2009/10, they played El Clasico on Monday, which ended 5-0 as well.

The squad list for the clash against Huesca was released earlier today. Araujo returns to the squad list after he suffered a relapse of the ankle injury against Sevilla minutes after coming on as a substitute. Ronald Koeman will look to give the Uruguayan defender some minutes against the bottom-placed Huesca to get him ready for the remainder of the season.

Sergi Roberto is, however, still not included in the squad and reported to be in his final stage of recovery, and we might see him on the squad list in a week or two.

Considering Huesca’s poor run of form and the excessive football that Barca has played over the last two months, the Dutch manager would be looking to rest some key players, including Messi, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, and maybe even Sergio Busquets.

An injury-stricken defense means there are significantly fewer chances for any of the three available center-backs to get some rest. Junior Firpo had a good game against the Parisians, and Koeman might considering playing him on the left, given that Alba has been featured constantly over the last two months.

[SQUAD LIST]
⚽️ #BarçaHuesca pic.twitter.com/mgQaU6jHy4

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 15, 2021

With that said, it’s a known fact that La Liga has been very competitive this season, and even the teams from relegation zones have caused problems to big guns like Atletico, Sevilla, and Real Madrid. The 57-year-old needs to strike a perfect balance between resting key players and his planning to win the match comfortably to continue the hustle for the league title.

Full List : Ter Stegen, Neto, Tenas; Dest, Mingueza, Araujo, Lenglet, Umtiti, Alba, Firpo; Busquets, Matheus, Ilaix, De Jong, Pedri, Puig, Pjanic; Braithwaite, Dembele, Messi, Trincao, Griezmann.

Absentees: Pique (Knee), Sergi Roberto (Calf), Phillipe Coutinho (Knee), Ansu Fati (Knee)

Koeman might even be thinking of a change in the system; this is something that we have seen in the past, the team shifts to a 4-3-3 against oppositions that maintain a low block and look to strike on the counter. However, as the Dutch manager has stated multiple times before, it’s more about energetic pressing and hard work off and on the ball than just the playing formation.

In order to maintain the pressure at the top of the table, the team needs to continue its jubilant display. The team will be looking to strike back after a very frustrating draw against the French Champions.