€60m-rated star to be benched – Flick ponders two major changes for Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid | OneFootball

Barcelona will face off against Diego Simeone’s in-form Atletico Madrid side in a clash that will have major repercussions in the La Liga title race tomorrow in Montjuic.

Barça, the current leaders, head into the game on the back of a poor run of form in La Liga which has seen them collect just five points from their previous six matches – with the latest one ending in a shock defeat to Leganes.

Things will not be any easy for Hansi Flick & co. against a determined Atletico side, more so without their key attacker Lamine Yamal, who is out for three weeks due to an ankle injury.

Two major changes incoming?

With no Yamal, manager Flick will be forced to make at least one change to the Barcelona starting lineup against Atletico Madrid.

And, Mundo Deportivo now reports that the German tactician is, in fact, preparing for two major alterations to the team that started against Leganes last weekend.

As per the report, Flick is seriously considering resting Dani Olmo, who has looked somewhat out of sorts in the last couple of games, against Atletico Madrid tomorrow.

Fermin and Gavi in line to start vs Atleti. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)

In his place, the manager plans to introduce Gavi into the starting lineup. Unlike in the past, the La Masia gem would operate as the attacking midfielder with Pedri and Marc Casado continuing as the double pivot in the centre of the park.

The other change, as mentioned above, would be to replace the injured Lamine, and Flick plans to introduce a certain Fermin Lopez into the lineup in place of the teenage sensation.

The idea would be to move Raphinha to the right flank to fill the void left by Lamine and deploy Fermin as a false-winger on the left.

It would mean that Flick would overlook in-form forward Ferran Torres, who was seen as the favourite to start in the Golden Boy’s absence.

In defence, the lineup is expected to remain unchanged, with Jules Kounde, Pau Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, and Alejandro Balde all starting as usual in front of Inaki Pena.

*Player valuation in title obtained from transfermarkt.com on date of publication.