De Jong’s revalidation and other tactical keys of Barbastro-Barça

In the midst of the Dani Olmo case (also Pau Víctor), Barça begins its journey in the 2024-2025 Copa del Rey by visiting one of the surprises of the competition, Barbastro. The Aragonese team left a First Division on the way and wants to make the task very difficult for the Barça team. A match that is almost never easy for the favorite team. Here my keys for this meeting:

Key 1

Szcesny’s Day

It will be the day of the Polish goalkeeper’s debut in the Barça shirt, after having been at the club for three months (signed on October 2). A more relevant fact than it seems since the certification of a good state of form of the goalkeeper would give security to the goal. Iñaki Peña’s performance is good but having a reliable alternative in such a decisive position would be very important for the team’s safety. The year is very long and the Barça team has to compete in the three competitions.

Key 2

Araújo and the alternative to the ‘nine’

It will be the official return of the Uruguayan defender to the pitch and that is already magnificent news for the Barça team. A priori, Araújo has to return as a right center back but he could also do so as a right back. And it will be super stimulating to see how he adapts to the defensive nuances that Hansi Flick seeks, especially the fact of always defending forward and drawing the offside line.

Another of the team’s pending issues is that the alternative to the center forward position (in principle Ferran Torres) continues to appear as a valid option to play. And, due to Lewandowski’s current form and because the season is very long, Barça urgently needs a second nine strong if you want to opt for everything.

Key 3

The revalidation of Eric Garcia and Frenkie de Jong

Super important match for the Catalan center back and also for the Dutch midfielder. In the case of Eric Garcia and, after playing the last 16 minutes against Atlético de Madrid, the match should serve to show Hansi Flick that he can be a center back with absolute guarantee to enter the rotation of the Cubarsí-Íñigo couple. Even more so at this precise moment when Ronald Araujo is already fit.

Regarding Frenkie de Jong, who is not counting much for the coach since his return from injury, three quarters of the same. Firstly, it will be interesting to see in what position Flick places him: whether as a six, as an eight or, as we saw against Mallorca and against Betis, in the midfield. Be that as it may, the match is a validation for him to demonstrate the great football qualities that the coach himself has verbalized in a press conference.

Key 4

Impose the derivatives of the category

It seems obvious but it is not. And if there is one aspect that Barça has to assert above the rest, it is that of category. An aspect that is particularly evident in two things, especially the pace of play and the quality of finishing. So the duties of the Barça team collectively tonight will be to enter the match well, to impose a movement that is fast enough to make the opponent suffer and to take advantage of the first opportunities that the match grants them.

Key 5

The threats: Sito Barrera, Guille Alonso and Marc Prat

To talk about individual dangers, we must talk about these proper names. Full-back Andrés Barrera (Sito) is the competition’s top scorer with four goals. He is a left-handed back who takes advantage of the structure of five defenders to join the attack a lot.

Midfielder Guille Alonso is in his first season with the Aragonese team but is a permanent player in Daniel Martínez’s plans. He is also seeing the goal considerably considering his position. He has three goals in the League of group two of the Second RFEF.

Special mention deserves Marc Prat, a forward who was already part of the squad that faced Barça in the last edition and who has a considerable capacity to generate danger through his mobility and his scoring instinct. He also has three goals in 767 minutes of the league competition. The coach can use it at the beginning or also save it for the final part of the match.

Read also