The high-flying Barcelona aims to continue its dominating form when it visits Serbia to take on Red Star Belgrade in Matchweek 4 of the UEFA Champions League.
Flick's men have won six games on the bounc, with a dismantling of Catalan neighbors Espanyol in La Liga being the latest. Los Periquitos were hopeless against Barcelona's well-oiled machine. Despite the recent wins, Flick won't have forgotten what happened in his team's first European game away from home this season, when it fell to an on-paper inferior side in AS Monaco to start the UCL campaign.
A win at the Rajko Mitic Stadium would see Barcelona end the week in the top eight of the UCL league phase, in possession of one of the automatic qualification places for the round of 16 in this new format.
With an international break looming on the horizon, Flick might opt not to rest some of his main players, targeting two wins in two remaining games before the break.
Here's how Barcelona could lineup vs. Crvena zvezda.
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Barcelona Predicted Lineup vs. Crvena zvezda: UEFA Champions League
GK: Iñaki Peña—Fully established as Barcelona's No. 1 goalkeeper, Peña will look for his second UCL clean sheet of the season.
RB: Jules Koundé—The Frenchman was given a rest over the weekend in the Catalan derby. Expect him to return to the lineup and patrol the right-flank.
CB: Pau Cubarsí—The teenager remains as one of Barcelona's most consistent and solid defenders. The various defensive injuries have allowed him to continue the very impressive start to his career.
CB: Íñigo Martínez—Alongside Cubarsí, Martínez has established one of the best center-back pairings in Europe this season. He's been rock solid in his second season with the club.
LB: Alejandro Baldé—Baldé is back to the level that saw him become one of the most dangerous attacking fullbacks in Europe. He'll look for a third assist in as many games.
CM: Frenkie de Jong—The Dutch midfielder will be hoping to finally get his first start of the season. After several cameos, this could be the game where he finally starts and gives Marc Casadó some well earned rest.
CM: Pedri—It doesn't seem likely that Flick will remove both of his regular midfielders, so Pedri gets the nod. The former Kopa Trophy winner has been remarkable to begin the season.
RW: Lamine Yamal—Yamal has only one goal in Barcelona's last six games. He'll look to find the back of the net for the second time in his UCL career.
AM: Fermín López—López gave way for Dani Olmo to start his first game in over a month against Espanyol. Flick might be cautious about giving Olmo back to back starts so soon, so the 21-year-old midfielder could make his return to the XI.
LW: Raphinha—One of the best players on the planet this season. He has at least one goal involvement in each of Barcelona's last six games.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Barcelona Predicted Lineup vs. Crvena zvezda: UEFA Champions League.
