FC Barcelona are set to take on AS Monaco in the UEFA Champions League. As everyone grapples to understand the new format of Europe’s biggest club competition, Hansi Flick will know that his time as a manager here will be judged based on how his team performs.
Barcelona as a team has not enjoyed many bright moments in this competition in recent seasons. There have been more heartbreaks than joy and the club last emerged victorious in this competition way back in 2015.
This is a huge monkey that the club wants to get off their back and it starts with taking on AS Monaco at the Stade Louis II. It is worth noting that the French club emerged 3-0 winners against Barcelona in the Joan Gamper game before this season began.
Hansi Flick will know better than to underestimate them and has named a strong squad for the trip. Barcelona will be buoyed by the return of Ansu Fati, who has been named in the squad list after recovering from his injury.
However, the likes of Dani Olmo and Fermin Lopez will miss out following their latest injuries. The former suffered a hamstring issue in the game against Girona while the latter unfortunately suffered a new problem in training yesterday.
The surprise call-ups to the squad have been the Fernandez brothers – Guille and Toni. The former has a good chance of making his debut should the need arise and it remains to be seen if Flick affords them an opportunity anytime soon.
The full squad announced by Barcelona for this match is as follows:
Goalkeepers:
- 1: Marc Andre Ter Stegen
- 2: Inaki Pena Sotorres
- 3: Andre Astralaga
Defenders:
- 1: Jules Kounde
- 2: Pau Cubarsi
- 3: Alejandro Balde
- 4: Inigo Martinez
- 5: Eric Garcia
- 6: Hector Fort
- 7: Gerard Martin
- 8: Sergi Dominguez
- 9: Andrés Cuenca
Midfielders:
- 1: Pedri
- 2: Marc Casado
- 3: Pablo Torre
- 4: Guille Fernández
Forwards:
- 1: Robert Lewandowski
- 2: Lamine Yamal
- 3: Raphinha
- 4: Ferran Torres
- 5: Ansu Fati
- 6: Pau Victor
- 7: Toni Fernández
Rested:
- None
Suspended:
- None
Injured:
- 1: Gavi
- 2: Frenkie de Jong
- 3: Ronald Araujo
- 4: Andreas Christensen
- 5: Dani Olmo
- 6: Fermin Lopez
