Barcelona started the 2019/20 La Liga season with an away match against Athletic Bilbao on August 10, 2019. Here's how we lined up.
Barca's XI: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Roberto, Alena, De Jong; Dembele, Suarez, Griezmann.
This term, the Catalans will only start in matchday 3 as they've been given extra holidays after reaching the Champions League quarter-finals. Their first match of the season is going to be a home clash against Villarreal. Here's how we might line up.
Barca's possible XI: Neto; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Pjanic, De Jong; Messi, Coutinho, Dembele; Griezmann.
There would be a total of four changes to the starting line-up but only one of them is going to be because of a new player coming in.
As for the rest, Messi is expected to be fit, unlike at the beginning of the last seasons when he was dealing with a calf injury. Besides, Coutinho is back from his loan at Bayern Munich and Ronald Koeman reportedly plans to make him an important part of the team.
As for the goalkeeper spot, Ter Stegen has undergone surgery and will be unavailable until November, so we should expect Neto to be our first-choice goalie until then.
Barca have also landed the likes of Pedri, Francisco Trincao and Matheus Fernandes this summer but it's highly unlikely that any of them would become starters right away.
The Catalans have also been linked with Memphis Depay and Giorginio Wijnaldum, and it's said they are a specific request from the new coach. However, their presence in the starting XI is going to be determined by when (and if) those moves happen.
Conclusion
The obvious conclusion here would be to say that Barca haven't changed much in comparison to last season. For example, the defensive line will likely stay exactly the same.
The club have made four signings but only Pjanic is a real candidate to become a starter in the first season. In the end, the only hope is that Koeman twists the formation in such a way that it accommodates to the abilities of our players and hopefully the likes of Griezmann, Coutinho and De Jong will improve next term.
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