Barcelona were pushed to the limit during their Copa del Rey match against CF Intercity, which was considerably tougher than expected for the Blaugrana.
Xavi’s team, however, ultimately prevailed with a final score of 4-3 thanks to an extra-time goal by Ansu Fati.
And Javi Miguel of AS claims that the 20-year-old forward will likely start the match against Atletico Madrid this weekend as a result of that strike.
⚽️ Ansu Fati’s game winner in minute 103 sends Barça into the last 16 of the Copa del Rey#CopaBarça pic.twitter.com/xqHIVzw9P8
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 4, 2023
Robert Lewandowski will miss the game for the Catalans after the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirmed his three-game suspension, and Barcelona chose not to file a further appeal.
Xavi had opted to rest the Poland captain for the cup tie last night as well, having gone in with the frontline of Ousmane Dembele, Ferran Torres, and Memphis Depay.
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But, according to the aforementioned report, two of the three forwards who started – Torres and Depay – have blown their chances of featuring in the starting XI at the weekend after their meek displays against CF Intercity.
Meanwhile, another attacker who is in line to start against the Rojiblancos is Dembele. The Frenchman has been directly involved in most goals during Xavi’s tenure as Barcelona’s manager and was on target last night as well.
So, Fati and Dembele are set to get the nod against Atletico Madrid, with the third attacking slot likely to be taken up by either Raphinha or Gavi as a false-winger.
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