Barcelona will be playing against Atletico Madrid, and since the Catalan giants will be facing an attacking threat posed by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Radamel-Falcao-c30276, Vilanova is going to try and field a strong defensive four against the Madrid-based club.
Since http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 have to play a perfect blend of defence and attack, Tito Vilanova is going to try and play the available strongest side against the second-placed Spanish La Liga team.
The French defender, Eric Abidal, is still recovering from the liver tumour he picked up last season and is expected to return as soon as January 2013.
Moreover, the Spanish midfielder, Cesc Fabregas, is also out for a month and will not be back anytime soon.
While lining up the defensive four and the goalkeeper, this is how Tito Vilanova will field them:
The Spanish shot-stopper, Victor Valdes, is expected to start the game against the Madrid-based club. Valdes has always been a first-choice goalkeeper for Barcelona, and he is the one who is going to be standing between the sticks when La Blaugrana will
face Atletico Madrid.
The four-man defence will definitely include the best centre-back partnership which La Blaugrana have, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Carles-Puyol-c8331. Vilanova has been saving Puyol for quite some time now and he will definitely start the game against a strong opposition
like Atletico Madrid.
Gerard Pique has recently recovered from his ankle injury and has been performing phenomenally for La Blaugrana. Vilanova will definitely select him over http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Javier-Mascherano-c18071, as Pique is naturally a defender.
The right-back position can either be taken by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Daniel-c9879 Alves, who is on his way to recovery from his respective injury; and if he is not able to recover, it is going to be the young Spanish full-back, Montoya.
In the left-back position, Tito Vilanova is going to play the newly signed former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jordi-Alba-c19111.
Alba has been having a phenomenal season with Barcelona and just like everyone expected, and the Barcelona youth academy graduate is gelling well with the rest of the team.
With the defence all lined up for the Catalan giants, next is the midfield; something that they have been relying on a lot since they started playing under their former coach, Josep Guardiola.
Tags: