Barcelona tipped for surprise line-up changes vs Real Madrid | OneFootball

Barcelona head coach Xavi is giving serious consideration to shaking up his starting XI for the club’s upcoming showdown with Real Madrid.

That’s according to Diario Sport, who have on Wednesday provided an insight into the latest developments behind the scenes in Catalunya’s capital.

Fresh off being sent packing from the Champions League last night, Barcelona will now be forced to shift focus firmly back towards matters on the domestic front.

As much comes with the club’s La Liga campaign essentially on the line this coming weekend.

A meeting with arch rivals Real Madrid lies in wait, in the latest edition of El Clásico.

Lose, and Barca will see their feint hopes of retaining the club’s title brought to a definitive end, by way of an 11-point gap to table-topping Real.

Emerge triumphant, on the other hand, and Sunday’s visitors to the Santiago Bernabéu will close the gap to a not-insurmountable five points.

In turn, it may come as something of a surprise to hear that Xavi is considering a number of high-profile changes to his line-up in Madrid.

As per the aforementioned Sport, from the XI that took to the pitch against PSG, Pedri, along with one or even two members of Barca’s backline, look likely to drop to the bench.

Replacing the former will be captain Sergi Roberto, with Iñigo Martínez and Marcos Alonso – owing to their experience – tipped to step in, too.

Conor Laird | GSFN