Barcelona predicted lineup vs Atlético Madrid: No Lewy, Big Problem

Xavi's press conference ahead of tomorrow's game 🆚️ Atletico Madrid and talks about the club future and the Copa del Ray.

"The Copa del Rey draw against Ceuta? We are focused on tomorrow's game, one of the most difficult outings in La Liga. We will try to be protagonists and have control of the ball. We want to be ourselves."

"As for the cup, we've been lucky in the draw for the first time since I've been Barça coach, but the other day we proved against Intercity that we have to show that we're better on the pitch."

"In the last few games we’ve played well and created a lot of chances, but we've lacked the strength to put our superiority on the scoreboard. Against Espanyol and Intercity we made life difficult for ourselves by not taking all the chances we had. We lacked decisiveness."

Barcelona predicted lineup vs Atlético Madrid: No Lewy, Big Problem

"Playing without Lewandowski? Both his absence and that of Jordi Alba is very sensitive. We will play with eleven and we will start with a '9'. You'll see tomorrow who it is. We've tried different profiles and tomorrow we'll make the decision."

"Cholo's teams are very hard-working defensively. He has been changing his system lately and it's difficult to predict how his team will play. Atletico have almost no defensive lapses, we will have to make the most of our chances because we won't have many." 

"Will it be a quiet transfer window? If we don’t change anything, that's fine. We will compete with the squad we have. I'm satisfied with the squad I have and that's what I've told the sporting department and the president."

"Options to replace Lewandowski? Ferran's work without the ball is very good. People don't value him, but he helps us in defence, and makes good runs. Ansu is more positional. He's different… Both can play as a No. 9 and there is also the possibility of Memphis." 

"Does the team lack leaders? We have players with this profile. There are times when it is not worth raising your voice, but having a personality. We have different profiles. I don't think we have a leadership problem. All the players know their role in the squad."

"Sometimes a player is exposed for a goal that started with bad collective pressure. We have to understand that football is a game of mistakes and that sooner or later we will fail. The other day we made life difficult for ourselves, but we managed to get through."

"Griezmann? He is a footballer who plays a lot of passes, organises the attacking play… He is a player to be reckoned with because he makes a difference in the final third."

"Why didn't Griezmann succeed at Barça? I don't know, I wasn't here." 

"Rotations in the game against Ceuta? We take it one game at a time. There is still time for the tie against Ceuta."

"Araujo? He is an extraordinary defender who gives us leadership, discipline, physicality, speed… The conversations with the Uruguayan national team were very clear and cordial. We made the decision based on the feelings of the player." 

"Araujo couldn’t play in the World Cup because his national team was eliminated in the group stage, but the important thing is that he is doing very well and the other day he played a great game."

"Stoppage time rules followed at World Cup? I prefer effective time. That way you don't cheat to lose time. I would prefer effective time, but I don't decide the rules." 

"Busquets' future? It will depend a little bit on the player's performance and the feelings and the fair play issue. Hopefully, he will perform very well until the end of the season, which he is doing. He's our captain and has six months left on his contract. We'll see." 

"Defensive issues? Against Espanyol, we lacked aggression in the opposition box. We only conceded one chance. In La Liga, we have conceded six goals and two of them came from penalties..." 

"Busquets or Frenkie de Jong for the pivot position against Atlético? Both are important for the team. They give dynamism, they don't lose balls, they are tactically intelligent."

"The starting XI against Atlético? I can't say anything about the XI because the players don't know. We'll see tomorrow. We have options to adapt to the circumstances of the match."

"Pablo Torre's minutes? I have been unfair to players who deserve more minutes. It's normal that someone feels I've been unfair to him. The other day, Pablo Torre had a good game. He's going to go from strength to strength, he was very important in set pieces." 

"Balde's role? Balde will play and he will be important. We have 24 players in the squad and there are a lot of games. Balde will be important, we will continue to bet on him."

"Bellerín? I don't know what will happen. Héctor is a guarantee, he is active defensively and has maturity. He is also one of those players who raises his voice when necessary."