FC Barcelona receives Shakhtar Donetsk this Wednesday for the third day of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, a match in which many changes are expected in the culé eleven with respect to the last presentation of the culés in Europe against Porto. Being a rival, on paper, affordable at home and with the first Clásico of the season just around the corner, rotations are more than appropriate.
In that sense, on offense there is not much to fall back on due to injuries, but there is on defense. Beyond the loss of Jules Koundé, the Egarense coach will be able to have men like Marcos Alonso and Iñigo Martínez (starter on Sunday against Bilbao) to rebuild a defense in which both Joao Cancelo and Alejandro Balde should rest. The youth player has seen action in every game this season, starting in 9 of 11 appearances.
Xavi will do without Balde thinking about the Classic
The left-back only stayed on the bench in the third matchday of LaLiga (in Villarreal), a match where Marcos Alonso occupied the left wing. He was also a substitute against Celta, another match where the former Chelsea defender struggled in his position. In total, Álex has 883 minutes spread over 11 games, two of them in the Champions League (against Antwerp and Porto) in which he played all 90 minutes.
The Catalan was a doubt after the last national team break, but managed to recover in time to receive Athletic, Xavi put Alonso in his place ten minutes from the end in a decisive double variation due to the entry of the youth Marc Guiu for Fermín López. In the end, Barça managed to keep a clean sheet and add three vital points to reach the Classic with the lead within a shot.
Barça hopes to have the best possible eleven on Saturday
With Pedri's return ruled out, Xavi still hopes to have Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha on Saturday. Koundé is also ruled out and Frenkie de Jong has little chance of arriving, which is why Barça will try to put together the best eleven possible, starting from a defense with its best players at its best. Therefore, the logical thing is to reserve Cancelo and Balde against Shakhtar, placing Ronald Araújo from the start after the Uruguayan only played half an hour on Sunday.