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I thinking the same thing, Rafinha may well start this game. More likely, he'll be the first sub. Ter Stegen Roberto Pique Lenglet Alba Rakitic Busquets Arthur Dembele Suarez Coutinho If Dembele is in the clouds again, he could be subbed very early. Semedo will come in for Roberto at 60...

Mentally, he was way off last game. I hope that was just a first-game back thing, being shocked at getting on the field so abruptly. He should be mentally prepared for Wednesday's game. How well he plays until Messi comes back is pivotal for his future with this club. This club needs four...

So, Valverde moved Dembele into the starting lineup last season, and began this season with Dembele in the starting lineup, because he hates Dembele? No one but Valverde wants more for Dembele to step up and keep this team competitive while Messi is out. That is why Valverde gets so upset when...

Ter Stegen excellent game by Suarez, but Ter Stegen was miraculous

This guy can volley! Is he the best shooting Barca midfielder ever?

Hyperextended elbow, maybe two or three weeks in a sling, complete recovery in 4 weeks. Unless it is a bad one, needing surgery. Suarez can miss all his shots this year, he still is vital for this team. Semedo, this is how you become a regular, great job. Maybe Dembele will be better after...

Gets another start. Let's see if he can do better today. Otherwise, as soon as Roberto gets his conditioning back, lots of bench time.

Roberto will come on as a sub today, getting him back in game shape after a month out. This lineup today means Vidal and Dembele will start against Inter, right?

Loptegui resting both Bale and Benzema, well, our fine manager will not rest both Messi and Suarez today.

Why would anyone have the illusion that Malcolm is a better player than Coutinho, Arthur and Dembele? On a squad like this one, some players will lose out. Some pretty fair talent has eliminated Malcolm's playing time. This is good for Barca, this is not a development squad. If Malcolm never...

RM is a team of carpetbaggers. They routinely squander player and coaching talent, more ready to try the new spectacular acquisition than develop a team. Barca is different. Barca does not fire managers willy nilly. This is superior management by Barca than RM. The RM approach is more...

The current formation seems to be 4-2-1-2 Messi. Rakitic plays alongside Busquets, with Arthur further upfield pretty much in the center. Rakitic does go forward sometimes, Busquets never does, but both defend a lot more than Arthur. Look, Rakitic is going to play a lot. He does on every...

Well, Semedo can beat opponents on the dribble one on one, but then after that he losses the ball or has to make a pass that does nothing to advance the offense. He never accomplishes anything good when he goes too far forward or to the goal. No matter who else is playing on his side of the...

Getting Neymar would probably be profitable for the team, TV ratings would go up. However, with both Coutinho and Dembele now at Neymar's position, it is hard to see the team making this move. Even if this move would improve the team's performance on the field, the disruption would be immense...

I agree, Vidal has to start more games. Even if the team is not quite as good with him out there, the players in front of him must be rotated. The guy continues to carry the load for Chile, and he has played at a very high level for all his prior teams. Roberto should not be getting midfield...

It will be interesting to see who will back up Pique and Lenglet. Busquets should only go to the back line to cover for an injury or ejection until a sub can warm up and enter the game. I don't know if Valverde would prefer Semedo or Roberto at CB. Even if one of the above is now #3 CB, some...

Arthur won't be playing with Vidal, because it looks like Vidal will not be playing. Don't know how out Dembele is. It would be incredible if Dembele went from second best player on the team to being completely unused. But, hey, for Arthur to be a regular, others have to sit.

I have no idea what to expect from Barca for this game. It will be good to have Roberto back in the starting lineup. I would not be surprised if Valverde played the same lineup for the 3 next games: Ter Stegen Roberto Pique Vermaelen Alba Busquets Rakitic Arthur Messi Suarez Coutinho No subs...

Not sure quite what his knee problem amounts to. It would be unusual for such a young athlete to have worn away the cartilage under his patella. Sometimes rough cartilage can just be smoothed out. Professional athletes can sometimes get transplants from cadavers or pigs. Most commonly, an...

Got to be Valverde. Lack of rotation, lack of substitution, that is really stupid so soon after the big Tottenham game.