How will Barcelona line up against Getafe in La Liga?

On the heels of a hard-fought draw away to Napoli in the Champions League, Barcelona have very little time to rest and are right back in La Liga action when they take on Getafe at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Barça were given the slightest of hopes of still winning this season’s league title thanks to a rare slip-up by Real Madrid last weekend, but the Catalans simply cannot afford to drop any more points if they want to put serious pressure on the leaders.

But Getafe are having another solid season that has them dreaming of a place in Europe and they know exactly how to frustrate Barça players, coaches and fans, so this will not be an easy game for the Blaugrana as they search for all three points.

Here’s how we think Xavi Hernández will line up his troops for Saturday’s battle.

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Defense

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The short turnaround between Wednesday night and Saturday afternoon makes this a likely spot for a couple of rotations by Xavi, but Barça will have a full eight days to rest and prepare for next Sunday’s trip to Athletic Bilbao which means the coach can afford to go with a stronger team in this one.

We might still see a few changes, however, and one might come at the back with the return of young Pau Cubarsí in place of Iñigo Martínez, who has had his minutes carefully monitored since returning from injury. Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo and João Cancelo would complete the back four, though there’s a chance Héctor Fort starts either at right-back with one of Kounde or Araujo going to the bench, or at left-back if Xavi wants to rest Cancelo.

Midfield

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Andreas Christensen’s time as a defensive midfielder has not been as productive as hoped, and the Dane struggled against Napoli proving that he is best suited for the usual center-back role where he’s shined ever since signing for Barça.

It would be a good idea to rest Christensen after several games in a row for a player who’s been struggling with an Achilles issue all season, and it might be a good idea to give Oriol Romeu another start to freshen up the side and hope that the veteran midfielder has a good game against a physical Getafe side that through their gameplan will likely require Barça to have a player with the type of brute force that Romeu can provide.

Frenkie de Jong, Ilkay Gündogan and Pedri will likely retain their spots in the team with Pedri as a false left winger again, though the magician might be rested if Xavi decides to avoid any risks with his most creative player and go with a three-attacker setup.

Attack

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Regardless of how many attackers start on Saturday, one of them should NOT be Lamine Yamal. It really is time to rest the teenager, who has started and/or played heavy minutes in virtually every game in 2024, and the long layoff between Saturday’s match and the trip to San Mamés next weekend gives Xavi the perfect opportunity to have Yamal come off the bench to play the final 20-30 minutes on Saturday and then have a full week to rest and recover.

We really are trying everything in our power to speak Yamal’s rest into existence, which would mean Raphinha back in the starting lineup on the right wing. The Brazilian was sent off in the reverse fixture against Getafe and will be motivated to rectify that mistake, and he’ll be hoping to provide Robert Lewandowski with enough service to help the Pole continue the hot run of form that has the striker looking like himself again in recent weeks.

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Possible XI: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsí, Cancelo; Romeu, De Jong; Raphinha, Gündogan, Pedri; Lewandowski (4-2-3-1)

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