“We are losing this match”, “Its so over” – Fans unhappy with Barcelona star’s inclusion in XI for UCL clash against Chelsea

Barcelona fans online were left unhappy with Ferran Torres’s inclusion in the starting XI to face Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League. The two clubs last faced each other in the UCL in the 2017-18 season, when the Catalans won 4-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16.

Hansi Flick’s starting XI features a mix of usual starters and substitutes due to injuries. Joan Garcia starts at the goal. The backline features Alejandro Balde, Pau Cubarsi, Ronald Araujo, and Jules Kounde. Frenkie de Jong, Fermin Lopez, and Eric Garcia feature in the midfield, with the notable absence of Pedri due to injury. Ferran Torres, Robert Lewandowski, and Lamine Yamal form the attack, but Barcelona will look forward to Raphinha coming off the bench.

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Fans took to X to react to Barcelona’s starting XI, with many being disappointed with the inclusion of Ferran Torres on the left wing. Raphinha is not fit enough to play 90 minutes yet, while Marcus Rashford was unwell last week due to the flu. One X user wrote:

“Why are you starting ferran? omo we are losing this match.”

Some other reactions were as follows:

Culers continued to share their thoughts on the lineup:

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca compares Barcelona star Pedri to Enzo Fernandez

In the pre-match press conference, Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca was asked how important Enzo Fernandez is to their midfield. He was also asked to comment on the significant absence of Pedri from Barcelona’s lineup. He said (via football.london):

“Of course Barcelona loses to Pedri, not only to Barca, but also to football, because of the quality of the football, which I think is incredible. Then about Enzo Fernandez, since I arrived here I have always considered him a fundamental and important player, at the beginning it took him a while to understand what he had to do, but then he has become an important player for us on the field.”

Maresca also commented on whether Lamine Yamal could be a good role model for Chelsea prodigy Estevao Willian. He added:

“Estevao is already playing high level, he is already starting for Brazil, for sure he is very young, for sure he can do many things better, but we are very happy with him. For me it’s more or less the same thing I said about Pedri, it’s nice for people that love football to watch players like Estevao, like Lamine Yamal, like Pedri, this is the beauty of football, so we are happy that Estevao is with us, and for sure he is going to do well.”

Estevao Willian is set to start for Chelsea tonight, while Barca will count on Lamine Yamal to do his magic on the pitch. It remains to be seen if the Catalans can shine, as they have yet to win against the Blues at Stamford Bridge since 2009.

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Edited by Pratyasha Sarkar