During the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal against Juventus, Barcelona tried to match up against Paulo Dybala specifically. They benched Sergio Busquets and deployed Dybala’s countryman, Javier Mascherano, to mark him specifically. That went poorly — Dybala scored twice.
Barcelona vs. Juventus lineups: Sergio Busquets returns and Paulo Dybala fit to start
Barca has stopped trying to outsmart their opponents and just picked their best XI.
Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images
Barca has also been experimenting with a back three as well. But they’ve thrown both of those things out the window and gone back to their most tried and true lineup: 4-3-3 with Busquets at the base of the midfield, Jordi Alba at left back, and Ivan Rakitic in a box-to-box role.
As for Juventus — if it’s not broke, why fix it? They’re rolling with the same team that won 3-0 in the first leg.
Barcelona lineup: Marc Andre ter Stegen; Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti, Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Andres Iniesta, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi
Juventus lineup: Gianluigi Buffon; Alex Sandro, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Dani Alves, Sami Khedira, Miralem Pjanic, Mario Mandzukic, Paulo Dybala, Juan Cuadrado, Gonzalo Higuain
Kickoff is at 2:45 p.m. ET from Camp Nou in Barcelona. American fans can watch the game on Fox Sports 1.
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