It could be quite the contrast at one end of the pitch this evening as Almeria host Barcelona at 21:30 CEST. The Andalusians gave Barcelona a good game at Montjuic, and they were bailed out by captain Sergi Roberto in a 3-2 win.

The thinking on how Pepe Mel and Xavi Hernandez will line-up, but Sport believe that it will be five at the back for Almeria, with fromer Barcelona centre-back Chumi up against his old side. In terms of changes to the Barcelona side that beat Real Sociedad, the Catalan daily believe that Roberto will come back into the side with Ilkay Gundogan out suspended, while they also foresee Joao Felix back in the starting XI.

They do also have Ronald Araujo in the backline, but the Uruguayan has not recovered from his fitness issues, and has been left out of the squad. MD say Inigo Martinez will continue, with Hector Fort on his left, allowing Joao Cancelo to rest.

They have Ferran Torres and Raphinha ahead of Lamine Yamal and Felix, and back Fermin Lopez to start ahead of Roberto too. If Almeria do go with a 4-2-3-1 featuring Leo Baptistao, Jonathan Viera and Adrian Embarba behind Choco Lozano, then they would be going up against defenders 14, 17, 15 and 14 years older than Fort and Cubarsi.

Almeria gave Barcelona a good game in December, and MD say that Xavi Hernandez will shuffle the pack a little.

Ronald Araujo has not returned to the squad, and Ilkay Gundogan finanlly gets a rest due to a suspension. pic.twitter.com/c8EuipRGss

— Football España (@footballespana_) May 16, 2024

The post Predicted Teams Almeria-Barcelona: Xavi to start two 17-year-olds, Almeria go with experience up top appeared first on Football España.