Barcelona set for Copa del Rey battle vs Atletico Madrid – Key midfield decision looms | OneFootball

FC Barcelona are set to take on Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey semifinal second leg at the Metropolitano as they look to progress to the final of the competition to keep their treble hopes alive in these final few months of the season.

The first game between these two teams turned out to be an absolute classic, ending in a 4-4 draw at the Montjuic. Since then, Barcelona have faced Atletico Madrid in the league, also away from home, where they made a thrilling 4-2 comeback win against Diego Simeone’s side.

Hansi Flick’s men conceded early goals to Atletico Madrid in both their previous encounters in the past month, and Barcelona will know that they need to be switched on from minute 1 to ensure that they do not let the Madrid-based side gain an early advantage in this tie.

For the game against Atletico, most of the XI picks itself with Hansi Flick having a nearly fully-fit squad to choose from. However, there is one important decision that the German tactician needs to make, with regards to the starting line-up.

With Dani Olmo nursing an injury, Hansi Flick needs to make a decision between Fermin Lopez and Gavi for the third midfield role. The other two on the night are most likely going to be Pedri and Frenkie de Jong, and the third midfielder is where all the confusion lies.

Both Fermin and Gavi have had very good displays in the past couple of games but lie behind Olmo in the pecking order. In the absence of the 26-year-old, both of them are in contention for a starting role and bring completely different skill sets to the table.

If Hansi Flick wants more control, technical ability and assurance in midfield along with constant pressure, then Gavi is who he must go with. However, in Fermin, the German coach has a player who knows how to get into attacking areas and provides a raw goal impetus.

Both players are excellent at the counter-press, making them excellent tactical fits in Flick’s system, which might be exactly where Pablo Torre misses out despite him being much more suited to the playmaking role than the other two names.

If Flick wants to go left-field and try something different, he can fall back to something that he did quite a lot early on in the season, which is to move Raphinha into the number 10 position and start Ferran Torres, who is in excellent form from the left.

However, it is highly unlikely that Flick will take this chance in the game against Atletico, and ultimately, it could come down to a choice between Fermin Lopez and Gavi. At this point, we think, the latter would make sense, especially starting the game.

Fermin is a better ball striker and could be more useful coming off the bench. On the rare occasion that this game spills into extra time and potentially penalties, having the 21-year-old on the pitch might make more sense than having Gavi.

Irrespective of who Flick decides to start in this position, though, either player will have to make sure that they are switched on from minute 1 and ensure that they do everything required to help the team beat Atletico Madrid on the night, and let’s wait and see how it plays out.

Fermin Lopez and Gavi are midfielders with quite different strengths and skill sets (Source: DataMB)