How will Barcelona line up against Athletic?

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It’s a first away game of the season for the Catalans

Barcelona head to San Mames on Saturday to take on Athletic and will be hoping to continue the same sort of form they showed last time out against Real Sociedad.

Ronald Koeman will still be without injured stars Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati, and Philippe Coutinho but Oscar Mingueza may be ready to return.

Let’s look at who could feature.

Defense

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Ter Stegen is not expected back until next weekend when Getafe visit the Camp Nou which means Neto will continue between the sticks for the visitors on Saturday.

Gerard Pique could miss the game with reports he has a slight knock and has been advised by the club’s medical team to take a week off. However, it’s also been reported that Pique isn’t too keen on the idea so don’t be surprised to see him in the lineup after all.

Koeman does have plenty of options if Pique can be convinced to sit this one out. Eric Garcia made his debut against La Real and could continue, while Ronald Araujo, Oscar Mingueza, and Clement Lenglet are also available.

Elsewhere, Sergino Dest and Jordi Alba look set to continue in the full-back slots.

Midfield

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Koeman surprised absolutely no-one by going with his tried and trusted midfield trio of Sergio Busquets, Pedri, and Frenkie de Jong against Real Sociedad and will probably do exactly the same thing again at San Mames.

The emergence of Nico Gonzalez, Gavi and Yusuf Demir means Koeman does have plenty of options during the game if he wants to switch things around. It will also be interesting to see if Riqui Puig gets any minutes after being an unused substitute last weekend.

Attack

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The Barcelona attack looked in pretty good shape last time out, despite the absence of Lionel Messi, and should mean that Memphis Depay, Martin Braithwaite and Antoine Griezmann start again.

Braithwaite scored twice against Real Sociedad and seems full of confidence, while Memphis picked up an assist and created a host of chances for his team-mates in a bright La Liga debut.

Possible XI: Neto; Dest, Araujo, Eric, Alba; De Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Memphis, Braithwaite, Griezmann.

How do you think Barcelona should line up against Athletic? Let us know your thoughts, predictions and teams in the comments below!

Source: barcablaugranes.com