FC Barcelona vs Red Star Belgrade Line Up: Flick makes tactical change

On By Littum

FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick makes three changes when the Catalans take on Red Star Belgrade away in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Although nine points clear of bitter rivals Real Madrid at the La Liga summit, Barca did not get off to the best start on the continent in 2024/25 by losing 2-1 to Monaco.

Rounding out home wins over Young Boys (5-0) and Bayern Munich (4-1) followed though, and Flick’s men must now navigate what should be a hostile environment in Serbia and try to get a positive result that will help them get into the top eight in the UCL league stage table.

Flick was critical after Barca lost concentration in the second half of a 3-1 win over Espanyol at the weekend, with all of his side’s goals scored in the opening 31 minutes.

That said, he didn’t want to dwell on the past in his pregame news conference Tuesday night.

“I don’t care about the past, (I worry) about the future,” Flick said. “We look forward, I don’t compare with what happened, now is our time, we want to play, be successful in the Champions League, win tomorrow. It’s a good day to do it, that’s where we focus . “

“There are very good teams with the same idea in the Champions League and other competitions, so we have to work hard, follow our path and enjoy every game, be focused on what we want to do and that’s what we have to do tomorrow.” ” he added later in his meeting with the media.

According to the names he uses, Flick will make changes measured against his Espanyol first XI.

While Jules Konde regains his place from Hector Fort, Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez are still there, but Alejandro Balde loses his place to Gerard Martin in protecting Inaki Pena’s goal.

Midfield three is also different. Dani Olmo is gone, allowing Frenkie De Jong to make his start-of-season debut alongside Pedri and ahead of Marc Casado.

However, the front three are identical to the one that is undoubtedly the best in Europe at the moment. It consists of Raphinha on the left with Robert Lewandowski in the center of the Brazilian and Lamine Yamal, who the ‘Serbian Messi’ has promised to appear at the Marakana.