Predicted Teams Barcelona-Osasuna: Major rotations for Hansi Flick, major absences for Vicente Moreno | OneFootball

Barcelona host Osasuna in the rerranged fixture from three weeks ago at 21:00 CEST at Montjuic on Thursday, with both teams assessing the fitness of some key players following the international break.

Ronald Araujo, Raphinha and Enzo Boyomo were all racing back from games with Uruguay, Brazil and Cameroon respectively that finished a maximum of 48 hours before kick-off. Osasuna coach Vicente Moreno played it coy on Boyomo’s presence, but Hansi Flick has ruled out Raphinha and Araujo.

Sport say that Boyomo will not start for Los Rojillo, who also face Athletic Club on Sunday. Moreno is set to go with five at the back, and two big men up front in Raul Garcia de Haro and star striker Ante Budimir up front, breaking tradition. Jon Moncayola and Iker Munoz are set to anchor the midfield, with Aimar Oroz the link man.

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For Barcelona, Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, Pedri, Jules Kounde and Frenkie de Jong are all set to start despite their involvement in the Nations League quarter-finals. Flick confirmed on Wednesday that Inigo Martinez would be paired with Eric Garcia in central defence, with Pau Cubarsi not 100% recovered from an ankle issue. He is in the squad, but youngster Alexis Olmedo has also been included. Gavi is perhaps the headline, returning to action, with no starts since mid-February.

That prognostic is largely agreed with by MD, although they say Fermin Lopez will start on the left, with Torres moving inside to play instead of Robert Lewandowski. They also believe that Moreno will use Ruben Garcia as a wide man rather than Garcia de Haro up front. Los Rojillo are missing star winger Bryan Zaragoza through injury and defensive midfielder Lucas Torro through suspension.

The home side are without Marc Casado, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal and Marc-Andre ter Stegen through injury, but based on form, will be heavy favourites for the win. Osasuna have just one in La Liga since November, while Barcelona have put together seven straight victories. The Catalan giants know they will open up a three-point gap to Real Madrid at the top of the table. Osasuna are seven points removed from a European spot with a game in hand, but more recently have been looking at the six-point cushion to the relegation zone.