BARCELONA

There is no voice louder than the sound of the Spanish Clasico tomorrow in the Super Cup final between the two poles of the world, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

On the Barcelona side, Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez is preparing a huge surprise against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final.

According to what was reported by the Spanish newspaper “Mundo Deportivo”, Xavi will implement against Real Madrid the plan through which he succeeded in bringing down the Royal team in previous confrontations.

The source indicated that Xavi will rely on the presence of a quartet in the midfield, with Pedri entering the starting lineup with Frenkie de Jong and Ilkay Gundogan.

It is noteworthy that Xavi believes that this is the ideal plan to confront Real Madrid, which also plays with a quartet in the midfield, and does not depend on the presence of a clear spearhead.

After Xavi received a strong shock, it became certain that full-back Joao Cancelo would be absent from the Real Madrid Clasico.

Barsa’s final training session today witnessed the absence of the Portuguese full-back, following the knee injury he recently suffered.

According to the newspaper “Sport”, Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior is the biggest threat to Barcelona, along with Jude Bellingham.

It is noteworthy that the right-back position in the Catalan club represents a headache, especially with the absence of Joao Cancelo from tomorrow’s match.

The newspaper indicated that the duo Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo are Xavi’s first options in this position.

The lineup that Xavi will rely on tomorrow is as follows:

Goalkeeper: Yanaki Peña

Defense line: Araujo, Kounde, Christensen, Balde

Midfield: Sergi Roberto, Pedri, De Jong, Gundogan

Offensive line: Joao Felix and Lewandowski.

Ousmane Dembele scored one and made three as Barcelona beat Athletic Club to remain within three points of Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga.

Dembele opened the scoring with a header and then set up goals for Sergi Roberto, Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres in a scintillating display.

It proved an unhappy return to Camp Nou for Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde, who was sacked by Barca in 2019 after winning back-to-back league titles.

With Bayern Munich to come on Wednesday — even though Barça’s Champions Leagues hopes have faded — Xavi made changes to the side that beat Villarreal 3-0 on Thursday.

Dembele was one of the players to come in and he dazzled with a goal and two assists inside the opening 22 minutes.

He opened the scoring with a header from close range after Lewandowski had crossed following Unai Simon’s save from a long-ranger Dembele curler.

Dembele then fed Sergi Roberto, whose effort deflected off Inigo Martinez to beat Simon in the visiting goal.

Lewandowski then added the third halfway through the first half, controlling a Dembele pass on the spin before rifling home his 17th goal of the season in all competitions.

Barça’s joy was briefly disrupted when Gavi was forced off injured, although early indications are he did not suffer anything serious.

Pedri hit the post after the break and Ansu Fati fired over after Frenkie de Jong surged forward before the fourth goal finally arrived.

Dembele was again the provider, feeding Ferran, who made it three goals in as many games with a fine finish.

The Barcelona goalkeeper is in fine form this season

Marc-Andre ter Stegen is in a sweet moment of football. He is posting numbers that place him back among the best goalkeepers in the world. Barça needed him in form and his reliability this season is bearing fruit on the team’s results.

Against Athletic Club, he kept another clean sheet. An Athletic side that have scored 21 goals against him in 21 games, his third-worst rival after Bayern Munich (30 goals in 13 games) and Real Madrid (24 in 17). He didn’t have much work at Camp Nou on Sunday, but he didn’t have to pick the ball out of the back of the net, either.

Ter Stegen’s start to the season is worthy of credit. In fact, he’s made history in LaLiga by becoming the first goalkeeper in the competition to keep nine clean sheets in the first 11 games of the season. Unheard of. He has only conceded in two games: against Real Sociedad (1-4, Isak scoring) and real Madrid (3-1, goals from Benzema, Valverde and Rodrygo).

Between the Real Sociedad and the Madrid games, he went on a run of 636 minutes without conceding. It’s a run that moved him into the top 10 best runs in LaLiga and was the second best ever for a Barça goalkeeper, after the 755 minutes of Claudio Bravo in 2014-15

The midfielder was happy with Barça’s display as they beat Athletic 4-0
Beyond the 4-0 win over Athletic Club, Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets was most happy with how his side play in the game at Camp Nou.

Busquets returned to the side as part of a midfield four, alongside Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Gavi, a move which surprised Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde.

It had a devastating result as Barça picked off Athletic with first-half goals from Ousmane Dembele, Sergi Roberto and Robert Lewandowski, with Ferran Torres adding the fourth.

“We had a difficult week,” Busquets reflected on games which included Madrid, Villarreal and Athletic.

“We started badly against Real Madrid but we regrouped well against Villarreal and tonight against Athletic. We started strongly. We knew how intense Athletic are and that we had to match them.

“I am sure Xavi is happy. The objective is to win and to do it playing well, which we managed today. This elevates the level of the team.”

Palmeiras forward Endrick is edging away from Barcelona as things stand. The 16-year-old
star from Brazil has become a priority target for Paris Saint-Germain and the Catalan club are not in a financial position to enter into a bidding ware with a club backed by an entire State.

Barça, as is well known, are undergoing a restructuring process to return to being competitive on all fronts as soon as possible. However, at the beginning of this season, after the summer of the levers (palancas), there are not enough resources to go after a youngster, who is going to become a world figure, but who will only be able to come to Europe in the summer of 2024 when he has turned 18.

And, in this scenario, as much as Endrick is liked (a lot), Barcelona, unfortunately, are not in a position to make a move with the determination required to tie down an aspiring star who has aroused interest among all the big sides in Europe.

It is not, therefore, about stopping the blow of PSG’s first move, which, as SPORT advanced, is an offer worth €20 million to be paid in cash. It is a simple issue. Barça do not want to and cannot participate in a medium-term race in which each week that passes more robust competitors will appear.

The sporting committee, which maintains a very good relationship with Endrick’s agents, is aware that they cannot ask the player to wait for Barça until the summer market. The battle for the signing of him has precipitated in the worst financial moment for Barça. In addition, the club will put all its possible assets into reinforcing the squad in the winter market after the virtual KO in the Champions League and the defeat in the Clásico at the Bernabéu.

And the scenario is even more negative for the Blaugrana since the president of Palmeiras, Leila Pereira, rejected the first offer from PSG to demand, at least, €35 million as a fee to sell his jewel in the summer of 2024.
Either there is an unexpected script twist, or Endrick’s future is edging away from Barcelona, whose urgent needs mean they must park medium-term movements.

The club want to sign a long-term Busquets replacement in January

Barcelona want to sign a pivot in January to bolster their midfield. The club want to bring someone in to ease the more than likely departure of Sergio Busquets next summer. They are looking at various players across Europe. One of them is the Mexican Edson Alvarez, at Ajax, a club who Barça have a good relationship with.

Alvarez, 24, has proved himself in European football and has quickly adapted to the way Ajax player, which has some similarities with Barça. The Mexican’s form has not gone unnoticed and the Dutch club received an offer worth close to €50 million from Chelsea this past summer. At that moment, Ajax did not want to sell as it was late in the window and tough to find a replacement.

Ajax coach Alfred Schreuder, Ronald Koeman’s No2 at Barça, has been full of praise for Alvarez. He says he already plays as if he has been the captain of the club for many years. Barça have been scouting him closely this season, especially in the Champions League games against Rangers, Napoli and Liverpool to get a better reading of his level and his potential.

Barça are also watching Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi, Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez and PSV’s Sangare. Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves has also been offered to the club. The debate goes on as to who is the best option.

The left-back will sign a new deal until 2027 in the coming months
Mateu Alemany is postponing all contract renewals until the month of January with the aim of deciding during that window what to do with the players whose contracts are expiring next summer.

However, a lot of progress is being made with Alejandro Balde, the left-back who has been given an opportunity under Xavi and is making good use of his playing time. His contract ends in 2024 and an extension until 2027 is well on track.

His agent Jorge Mendes has already talked about it in his recent visits to Barcelona and there could be good news during the World Cup. The player wants to continue and Barça want him to stay.

The renewal should be signed between December and January and would begin to clarify the situation at left-back. It seems that Balde will remain and the club would like to renew Marcos Alonso for a couple more years as he has shown his good defensive versatility.
Jordi Alba, whose contract expires in2024, still does not have his future assured, although he has already made it very clear that he does not want to move from Barça.

The sporting director spoke about the young midfielder who came on against Athletic

Barcelona enjoyed themselves against Athletic Club, first for the rout, but second for the debut of Pablo Torre in the top flight. The youngster had played in the Champions League but domestically he had been waiting for his chance.

At the end of the game, Jordi Cruyff dedicated some words to him, and some advice.

“He should enjoy this special moment and I would tell him to work even harder still,” said the sporting director. “We ended up with 10 men (Sergi Roberto was injured) and he had to do more of a suppression job.”

Jordi said it was important “to keep a clean sheet, we are very satisfied. We have shown intensity and desire against one of the strongest teams in La Liga. They press well and are very physical.”

Gavi trained ahead of the game on Tuesday and is ready to play on Wednesday

Barcelona midfielder Gavi will be fit to play against Bayern Munich on Wednesday. The youngster received a knee from Dani García during Barça-Athletic on Sunday and had to be replaced in the first half. The fans at Camp Nou feared the worst, but test showed there was no injury and he has made a quick return to training.

Gavi underwent tests after the game and also on Monday before the recovery session, but it was on Tuesday when he returned to the pitches of the Ciutat Esportiva to train with the rest of his teammates before the visit of the Bavarian team this week.

The player was left lying on the field of play after a tough tackle by Garcia that was not even considered a foul by referee Martínez Munuera.

Shortly after, he had to be replaced by Kessie. Despite the pain in the moment, Gavi has appeared smiling at the training ground confirming that he is fully recovered and that if Xavi needs him he will be able to help the team in the big game in the Champions League.

The midfielder will wait to hear Barça’s offer before signing elsewhere

Chelsea midfielder Jorginho is one of the most wanted players on the market because the 30-year-old is available on a free next summer when his contract at Stamford Bridge expires.

Barcelona’s director of football Mateu Alemany has made it clear: the Catalan club will look for opportunities and the players whose contracts are expiring are a priority. Jorginho fits that profile and Tuttomercato have revealed that his agent, Joao Santos, met with Barça.

In said meeting, Barça have managed to get the player to commit to not making any decision until he has received a concrete proposal from the LaLiga side.

The player’s agent was also clear: Jorginho wants things clear by January. He is a free agent in June but want things tied down long before then. He is waiting for an offer from Chelsea but he also has a lot of suitors elsewhere, including in Italy, who he represents at international level, with Juventus strongly linked

Barça’s offer will depend on various factors. The first is what happens with Frenkie de Jong. Then what happens with Bernardo Silva, a player Xavi wants. Another factor is what Sergio Busquets decides to do with his future. He also out of contract next summer and is currently expected to leave Camp Nou

Therefore, Barça are working on a long-term Busquets replacement beyond this season. Jorginho is more of an interior but can adapt to other midfield roles.