Official: Barcelona name starting XI for Atletico Madrid clash | La Liga | OneFootball

FC Barcelona are set to kick off their game against Atletico Madrid soon at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. Both teams will want to get a win here, but the Catalan giants will want revenge for what happened the last time these two sides met in this stadium.

Unfortunately for Hansi Flick’s team, some key players such as Raphinha are still unavailable for this important fixture. Still, the German tactician has enough quality in his team to expect a good result no matter what.

Here is the official starting eleven for Barcelona ahead of the game.

In goal, Joan Garcia starts for FC Barcelona and he will look to stop Atletico Madrid from finding the back of the net. It will be a difficult task, but the Spanish goalkeeper has the quality to make it a reality.

Ahead of him, Pau Cubarsi and Gerard Martin start as the two centre-backs for Barça. Both players will need to be careful when in possession, and they will also need to be alert defensively.

On the flanks, Joao Cancelo and Ronald Araujo start as the two full-backs. They will need to keep the opposition wingers at bay, while simultaneously working on creating offensive chances as well.

Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images

In the midfield, Pedri and Eric Garcia start as the two holding midfielders for Hansi Flick’s team, with sources having expected the latter to be starting this game. They will need to dictate the game’s tempo while also ensuring that they can win their duels and possession in midfield.

As for the attack, Lamine Yamal starts on the right as he normally does while Marcus Rashford occupies the left side in light of Raphinha being unavailable. They are accompanied by Fermin Lopez as the central attacking midfielder.

Lastly, up top, Dani Olmo has been chosen to start as the team’s centre-forward, but as a ‘false 9’ for this game. A different approach compared to what Flick has typically done in these situations this season, but it promises to be an interesting one given the effectiveness of this tactic previously.