Barcelona already knew that January of 2024 would be a very demanding month for them. The Catalan giants have thus far only played in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League group stages. However, in January, Barcelona will be introduced to two new cup competitions.
Following their latest victory against UD Las Palmas, Barça now look towards their next encounter. Scheduled to take place against Barbastro, it will be their first game in the Copa Del Ray this season. However, given that it is a single knockout game, it could also be the last one for Barcelona already.
To ensure that his players remain in top shape and do not needlessly get exhausted, however, Xavi will aim for rotations. According to AS, the Barcelona coach will likely make several major changes for this game. His usual set of starting players will most probably be benched for this opening cup game.
In goal, AS reports that Inaki Pena will likely start as he typically does. The right-back position, especially given Joao Cancelo’s injury, may be given to Hector Fort. The youngster already played for Barcelona in the Champions League game against Antwerp this season as well.
Next to him, Pau Cubarsi has a strong chance to start alongside Jules Kounde or Andreas Christensen. On the left-back position, Alejandro Balde could remain given that Marcos Alonso is injured.
Up ahead, the midfield and frontline will likely see a complete rotation. Oriol Romeu, Fermin Lopez, and Marc Casado have a strong chance to all start together. Romeu, in particular, has lost a lot of the faith that was held in him at the start of the season and he could look to regain his best version.
Finally, the frontline could see Brazilian forward Vitor Roque start for Barcelona. On either side of him, Lamine Yamal and Joao Felix could start. Even in the last outing against Las Palmas, these three in attack created a decent amount of openings for the team.
