In the midst of crisis, Barcelona face Unionistas in Copa del Rey with this XI

Barcelona have had a difficult week. The coach and players were already being harshly criticized for the poor performances they showed and the bad results they got during the last games of 2023, but it got even worse after the failure in the Spanish Super Cup. They accessed the final after beating Osasuna, but in the decisive match they were comfortably beaten by Real Madrid and were ridiculed by Vinicius Junior's hat-trick.

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This caused many to question Xavi Hernandez's future as coach, as they consider that he has not been up to the demands of the club and that he has failed at key moments. Above all they reproach his lack of reaction to solve the team's problems and some wrong strategic decisions.

With this scenario, this Thursday's match against Unionistas de Salamanca could be decisive for the Spanish manager. Los Blaugranas will face a lower quality team (they are in the third division of Spain), so an elimination against them in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey would be a hard blow. That is why the Catalan side will play with most of their stars to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Barcelona's starting lineup will be: Iñaki Peña; Sergi Roberto, Jules Koundé, Andreas Christensen, Alex Balde; Frenkie De Jong, Oriol Romeu, Fermin Lopez; Ferran Torres, Marc Guiu, Joao Felix. Also on the bench will be Diego Kochen, Ander Astralaga, Hector Fort, Pau Cubarsi, Pedri, Marc Casado, Ilkay Gundogan, Pau Victor, Vitor Roque and Robert Lewandowski.

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For them it is a historic opportunity

Unionistas de Salamanca reached this stage of the Copa del Rey after drawing 1-1 against Villarreal and winning in the penalty shoot-out. That victory was much celebrated by the fans, as it was against a top La Liga team, but it can't even compare to what it would mean to beat Barcelona. That's why coach Daniel Ponz Folch will field the best he has: Ivan Martinez; Erik Ruiz, Ramiro Mayor, Carlos Gimenez, Ekaitz Jimenez; Alvaro Gomez, Jordi Tur, Adri Gomez, Juan Serrano; Jorge Rastrojo, Mario Losada.