Barcelona lost for the first time in Hansi Flick’s reign on Thursday, going down 2-1 to Monaco in their Champions League opener. They will be seeking an immediate bounce back three days later, as they make the tricky trip to La Ceramica to take on high-flying Villarreal.
That evening at the Stade Louis-II was a frustrating one for Barcelona, who were at a man disadvantage for over 80 minutes. However, Flick has been enough to say that nothing needs to change personnel-wise for the match against Villarreal, with Sport predicting that it will be an unchanged XI.
This would mean that Eric Garcia keeps his place, while Pedri and Marc Casado would also come through injury concerns.
Marcelino Garcia Toral is expected to make only one change from Villarreal’s victory over Mallorca last weekend, and that would be Yeremy Pino returning to the starting line-up ahead of former Barcelona youngster Ilias Akhomach.
It should be a very well-matched encounter at La Ceramica. Villarreal are more than capable of causing problems, although Barcelona have been faultless in La Liga so far – can they keep that run going?