How will Barcelona line up against Monaco in their Champions League debut?

The wait is over as Barcelona finally make their European debut this season with a trip to France for a rematch of this year’s Joan Gamper Trophy against AS Monaco, as the two teams play their opening match in the new UEFA Champions League’s League Phase on Thursday night.

The Blaugrana have made a dream start to the season with five wins out of five to begin the new La Liga campaign, and they now look for a winning start to their European journey and will also try to get some revenge for their loss to Monaco in the Gamper, which is their only bad game under Hansi Flick so far.

Here’s how we think Flick will line up his troops for Thursday’s battle.

Defense

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Flick is expected to once again pick his strongest available side for the continental opener, with a three-day rest after the Girona game and a short trip to the Principality allowing for enough recovery time to have his best XI on the pitch.

The back four of Jules Kounde, Pau Cubarsí, Iñigo Martínez and Alejandro Balde continues to gel and get better and better with more continuity, and until the likes of Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen return we probably won’t see much rotation at the back. Flick has used in-game substitutions to steal some rest minutes for those defenders so far this season, and he’ll likely use that same method over the next few weeks.

Midfield

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The midfield injuries continue to hurt Barcelona to a nearly unbelievable degree in the early stages of this season, with Dani Olmo the latest to go down with a hamstring injury that will sideline him through the October international break. Thankfully Frenkie de Jong and Gavi have returned to training in recent days, which is a very important boost even if those two are not quite ready to play yet.

Olmo’s absence is a real blow to a Barça midfield that was looking exceptional with the new signing alongside Marc Casadó and Pedri, who will start again on Thursday and will likely be joined by Raphinha in the middle of the park. The Brazilian started the first three games as a number 10 and has thrived in that free role, and he should have no issues sliding seamlessly back into the position in the next few games.

Attack

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With Raphinha’s expected return to midfield, the open position on the left will likely be occupied on Thursday by Ferran Torres, who was unfortunately sent off at the weekend but had scored in Barça’s previous game against Valladolid and also found the net for Spain during the international break.

The Shark plays at his best when his confidence is high from finding the net consistently, so we’ll likely see a good version of Ferran against Monaco. Lamine Yamal is off to an incredible start this season and will be looking to finally score his first Champions League goal, while Robert Lewandowski will lead the line trying to find the net in Europe as he’s done consistently well throughout his career.

Possible XI: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Balde; Casadó, Pedri; Yamal, Raphinha, Ferran; Lewandowski (4-2-3-1)

How do you think Barcelona should line up against Monaco? Let us know your thoughts, predictions and teams in the comments below!