Ronald Koeman faces the first of three games at the Camp Nou, which will decide his future on the Blaugrana bench, with many open fronts and more than one uncertainty. The Dutch coach already knows that he will not be able to count on Ronald Araújo, his best defense in defense at this start of the season, nor with Pedri, who received a warm ovation from his peers before the session for his brand new renovation. They are also low Ousmane Dembélé, unpublished even this season and who still has at least one more week of training left, and Martin Braithwaite, who won’t reappear until next year.
A truly bleak outlook and one that could be even worse, since Koeman recovers Sergio Agüero, who could play his first minutes as a Blaugrana this Sunday against Valencia, since it is expected that he will be discharged and enter the call tomorrow. The Argentine striker is presented as one of the last bullets that the team has to regain effectiveness at the top. Kun is expected to be able to play for 15-20 minutes. It also remains to be seen if Ansu Fati finally starts or continues with his minute management process after having spent almost ten months off the pitch. The young striker has three games, accumulating a total of 59 minutes, with Atlético being the one that played the most, with a total of 27 minutes.
With whom you can already count, and from the beginning, it is with Jordi Alba. The left-handed side, who has already entered the call-up against Atlético de Madrid, will be one of Koeman’s assets to balance the rear. He also recovers Alejandro Balde, after overcoming low back pain which has given you more than one headache in the last month. In this way, Barcelona once again have the left wing covered.
Who will surely appreciate this situation is Sergiño Dest, who returned to training this Saturday after seeing how his goal against Costa Rica went around the world. The American international will be able to play again on the right wing, although it is not clear that he will start this Sunday, since he has so few work sessions, being Sergi Roberto or Mingueza the other candidates to occupy their place on the side.
Koeman is also stripping the daisy to decide the drawing that will come out at the Camp Nou. PFor now, all signs point to a 3-5-2, with three center backs and two forward lanes. At least that’s the system he tested against Cornellà in Wednesday’s friendly. If that were the case, he would repeat the same system that gave such poor results against Benfica in the Champions League.
Apart from the number of centrals, he will also have to decide the names, taking into account that Araújo is low. In midfield, everything seems much clearer and more determined, in the presence of the newly appointed Nations League MVP, Sergio Busquets, along with Dutchman Frenkie de Jong and the revelation of this start of the year, Gavi.
And in attack, apart from the unknown number, there is only one thing clear: the Dutch Memphis Depay will play. Both Philippe Coutinho like Luuk de Jong and Ansu Fati would be the options davailable to accompany Memphis.