Barcelona are further away from the top of La Liga than they would have liked at this stage of the season, so no less than a win will do against Alaves on Sunday afternoon in Catalonia.
While Real Madrid are a couple of points ahead of Barcelona right now, it’s Girona who currently lead the way in Spain. They’ll be expected to fall away from title contention eventually but for now Barcelona must take care of their own games.
There would certainly be no excuse for failing to grab all three points from a home match against 14th-place Alaves on Sunday.
Here is the starting XI Xavi is likely to pick for Barcelona vs Alaves in La Liga.
GK: Marc-Andre ter Stegen – Ter Stegen has kept his place for Champions League games which means there has been little rest for the Germany international. He will be back between the sticks again here.
RB: Joao Cancelo – Cancelo looks like Xavi’s settled right-back now given he started against Real Sociedad, albeit in a slightly different formation, and then played the whole game in a back four against Shakhtar.
CB: Ronald Araujo – Another player who played the whole 90 minutes against Shakhtar, Araujo will be hoping for a clean sheet on Sunday after Tuesday’s disappointment.
CB: Jules Kounde – He was on the bench in midweek but Kounde is expected to take his place back from Andreas Christensen for this league match, having recently returned from a long injury layoff.
LB: Alejandro Balde – Another who was rested against Shakhtar, Balde is the first choice left-back and will almost certainly displace Marcos Alonso against Alaves.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan – The German midfielder has settled in very well at Barcelona and is a regular in midfield now. Just needs a few more goals to show he’s really arrived.
CM: Oriol Romeu – Searching for that stability in midfield, Romeu will likely start in the centre of the pitch and give license to those around him to get forward.
CM: Pedri – With Gavi suspended, Pedri could make his first start since returning from injury. He appeared from the bench last weekend and in midweek, so he could be chucked in from the start here by Xavi.
RW: Raphinha – There is a chance Xavi may mix things up in attack this week so it’s not easy to predict, but he could use this game to continue getting Raphinha back up to speed after his injury.
ST: Robert Lewandowski – Another player recently back from injury, that first goal after returning will be great for Lewandowski and the team. Alaves will hope it does not come against them.
LW: Joao Felix – Another position with a few options, Felix could be given a pretty fluid role that starts on the left but ends up anywhere along the forward line.
