Xavi’s Barça defence to see changes given Ter Stegen surgery

Ter Stegen has finally decided to undergo surgery to put an end to his back problem, an injury which ended up also causing pain in his leg. Given the choice to go under the knife before Christmas, which Ter Stegen himself called “the right and safe” decision, his return to the team is not expected until some time in 2024.

Iñigo Martínez, with his hamstring injury, will be out for a month, so he will also not return until next year.

With these two absences, the starting backline for Xavi’s Barça at the end of 2023 is practically chopped in half. However, pending possible rotations, it is easy to predict: In goal, Iñaki Peña will finally be able to have the continuity that seemed impossible with the German fit and firing There is absolute confidence in the goalkeeper, who was outstanding against both Porto and Atlético, two key matches in the team’s season.

Who will play in defence for Barcelona given the injuries?

On the right side, Koundé will be the starter, even though he may not like it. The French defender prefers to play as a centre-back, but with the coach’s slim pickings, his chances of playing go up when moved to the wide berth. Against Atlético he had a very positive game and linked up well with Raphinha. Last season, the Frenchman played 19 games at right-back in LaLiga and Barça won 17, a positive statistic that justifies his return to full-back. Even if reluctantly, it seems that Koundé will have no choice but to adapt to the position.

The centre-back pairing will be made up of Araujo and Christensen. The Dane had lost his place in the starting XI to Iñigo Martínez, but if injuries are not a problem, he will be the starting left centre-back until the end of the year. In the case of the Uruguayan, he performs much better in the middle than on the right flank, where he finds it harder to play the role of full-back than Koundé.

The Uruguayan performs much better in the centre and the Dane, despite losing his place in favour of Iñigo, gives a sense of stability in the middle and guarantees security and a clean build-up from the back. On the left, Cancelo, who has a fantastic understanding with João Félix on that flank and who was at a very high level against Porto and Atlético, will remain in the XI.

Cancelo to play over Balde

These five players will be in charge of keeping the opposing strikers under control (although defending is the job of the whole team); Sergi Roberto and Balde will be on the bench to give oxygen to the two full-backs. The Barça captain suffered a muscle injury that kept him sidelined for more than a month but against Porto he returned to the list of called-up players. He is, therefore, another alternative for Xavi at either right-back or in midfield.

In the case of Balde, he started the season as the undisputed starter at left-back but uninspiring performances saw him lose his place to Cancelo. The youth-team graduate must react to win back the coach’s trust and he has plenty of qualities to succeed as a Barcelona full-back. But, for the moment, Xavi’s bet on the Portuguese full-back has given a huge plus to the team over recent games.

Barcelona’s next game in LaLiga is against Girona at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys and will be played on Sunday, December 10, with kick off at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT.