Barcelona’s best line-up without Messi. A chance for the youngsters?

Barcelona has always been one of the biggest and most successful clubs in the world. In recent years alone, many football legends have taken their place in the Catalan capital. But all good things must come to an end. This was also the case for Lionel Messi, who had to leave the club this summer after 21 years. The Catalans are facing a difficult situation. What line-up should they field and what should they expect?

The new season is already in full swing, and right from the start it is necessary to mention that the start for Barcelona has not been easy at all. First, it had to deal with the salary cap set by La Liga in order to register new reinforcements.

As a result, Jean-Clair Todibo, Carles Aleñá, Francisco Trincão, Júnior Firpo, Ilaix Moriba, Antoine Griezmann, Emerson and Miralem Pjanic had to leave the club in succession. But the biggest loss is clearly the captain and icon of the club, Lionel Messi, who had to leave the team because of the very bad financial situation.

On the other hand, the list of incoming reinforcements is quite full. Barcelona has managed to strengthen as best as it could given the situation, and seemingly it looks like the club has managed to fill almost all the gaps in the squad. With the new reinforcements, how could the Catalans enter the matches? Let’s take a look.

We expect Barcelona to play this season ideally in a 4-3-3 formation, or occasionally in a 4-2-3-1 or alternatively in a 4-4-2.

Goalkeeper: Marc-André ter Stegen proved once again last season that he is the best choice in goal. Although many believe he is not as solid as he used to be, he is still one of the top players at his position. His replacement will be former Valencia mainstay Norberto Neto. Although his transfer to another team was heavily discussed in the summer, the player will eventually continue to defend the Blaugranas colours next season.

His competition and rival for the number two position will be the young Iñaki Peña, who is expected to take the number two role in the future, possibly replacing the ageing ter Stegen in goal.

Defence:: the exact shape of the defensive pairing is still unknown, with the Piqué – García pairing most expected, for many the epitome of the ideal combination of youth and experience. Barcelona have played this way in their first two games and are expected to continue the trend.

The first substitute on the list is Ronald Araujo, who is likely to rotate with the two aforementioned. Óscar Mingueza is another interesting option. We must also not forget the oft-criticised Clément Lenglet, who looks like he might be able to find and maintain his lost form.

The last option is Samuel Umtiti. Most fans have definitely lost patience with him, so if he gets a chance to start the game, he needs to make the most of it.

The edge of the defence will probably be guarded by veteran Jordi Alba and American Sergiño Dest. Sergi Roberto could possibly fill in for the youngster, while Alejandro Balde will be waiting for his chance on the left side for a change.

Midfield:: The composition of the midfield is clear at first glance. The trio of Pedri – Busquets – de Jong is the strongest Barcelona currently have in the middle of the park. Again, as in the case of the defensive pairing, the ideal combination of experience and youth.

Obviously, due to his age, the eighteen-year-old Pedri cannot continuously play all the matches, so he is occasionally replaced from the bench by Nico González. Philippe Coutinho, who still hasn’t properly established himself since his arrival and hasn’t lived up to expectations, will get one last chance this season according to the latest reports, then we’ll see.

Riqui Puig will be sitting on the bench with him, although coach Ronald Koeman didn’t count on him initially, but the player decided to stay and fight for minutes with the others. Someone from Barcelona’s academy, such as Gavi, could also shuffle the game.

Attack: Probably the best looking attack on paper is that of new arrivals Memphis Depay and Sergio Agüero, with Ansu Fati filling in on the right when he fully recovers from injury.

Frenchman Ousmane Dembélé is also sure to hit the scoresheet. Let’s hope his health holds out this time. Yusuf Demir is also available to the team for the new season and he has already managed to show that he really has talent to spare. We can only hope that this will ultimately translate into his performances on the pitch.

Martin Braithwaite may also start occasionally in the lighter games. The Dane is still a Barcelona player and has put in some solid performances at the start of the season, it’s just a shame that his last two games haven’t gone his way and he missed the ball into an empty net from a rebound against Bilbao.

The whole roster wouldn’t be complete without the freshest signing Luuk de Jong. His transfer was often criticized for his lack of quality, but the team urgently needed to bring in a striker and de Jong was one of the few remaining options. However, he definitely deserves to be given a fair chance to show what he’s got.

Barcelona may be struggling with a financial crisis and it will take time to get firmly back on its feet, the roster for this season is still more than solid and there is a lot of young blood in the squad. It will certainly take some time for the youngsters to gain some experience, but if most of them manage to fulfil their potential and the management fills the remaining gaps in the roster with players of Barcelona-worthy quality, the club will have no shortage of trophies to win in the years to come.

Source: FC Barcelona