Three talking points ahead of Athletic Club vs Barcelona | La Liga MD 27 | OneFootball

Barcelona take on Athletic Club de Bilbao on tonight in a game that will be crucial in seeing them hold onto their lead in La Liga.

With a late goal in extra time, Real Madrid scrambled to all three points against Celta Vigo and are now at Barcelona’s doorstep. A win tonight, however, will take the Catalans four points clear once more.

Heading into the game, Barcelona will be without key names in Frenkie de Jong, Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde, and it will be key that the manager gets his decisions over the XI spot on.

After all, several factors will play on his mind as he makes the important call, including the fatigue from the previous game and the massive UCL match-up coming up.

The intermediary game

Barcelona’s midweek game against Atletico Madrid may not be massive in the grand scheme of things if one considers the Copa del Rey to be a minor competition.

However, the team gave their all on the field and played with everything until the final whistle, and the game thus took a massive toll on them.

Come the upcoming midweek clash once more, Barcelona will again have to play at the highest intensity as they did against Atletico Madrid. After all, they take on Newcastle United in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 away at St James’ Park.

In that sense, tonight’s game against Athletic Club is the one intermediate clash between Barcelona’s two high-intensity clashes and one that the manager must look to manage wisely.

Ernesto Valverde’s side will be no walk in the park for the Catalans, but it is the one chance for Barcelona to get away with a game in second gear. Making the most of it, however, rests in the hands of the manager and the players.

A full-back conundrum

Kounde is injured, along with Balde. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

One of the highlights of Barcelona’s game against Atletico Madrid, in the negative sense, was the double-injury blow they suffered on the night.

First, it was Jules Kounde who left the field injured and forced Hansi Flick to bring on Alejandro Balde as a substitute early on in the game.

In the second half, however, the Spaniard himself went down with a similar injury and handed Barcelona a double-blow, leaving the manager without both his starting full-back options.

How Flick compensates for that situation, needless to say, will be interesting to see, for it will count for a major part of the team’s on-field dynamics.

Joao Cancelo can feature either at left-back or right-back based on the manager’s dynamics, and given how he combined with Lamine Yamal midweek, his starting on the right continues to be an option.

If the Portuguese star starts on the right, Gerard Martin will be the manager’s pick to start at left-back, with Eric Garcia available to start in central defence.

Concurrently, there is the option of starting Cancelo at left-back with Eric Garcia at right-back, leaving Pau Cubarsi with Gerard Martin in central defence.

Rotations to be key

At the full-time whistle against Atletico Madrid midweek, most Barcelona players dropped to their knees in fatigue, and understandably so given the shift they had all just put in.

Given that there is another similar intensity game midweek against Newcastle United in the UEFA Champions League, it is key that the players are rotated effectively tonight.

For starters, the likes of Pedri and Marc Bernal, who played all ninety minutes midweek, it is vital that rest is provided as a priority and that they are kept fresh for the clash midweek.

After all, Pedri is just returning from injury, and Bernal has not played a game with such intensity in a long time.

Other stars who would command major rest include Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Pau Cubarsi and Joao Cancelo, all of whom played a massive part in the Copa del Rey semifinal.

Adequately balancing rotations and striking the right balance between starters and substitutes, thus, will be vital tonight.

One can expect Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia, Dani Olmo, Marc Casado, Roony Bardghji and Marcus Rashford to get starts with the game situation in the second half deciding the manager’s call on handing starters cameos.

Flick, thus, has a massive rotational responsibility which will be key on the night.