World Sports: Araujo and Casado may replace Cubasi and Pedri in the starting lineup against Elche

In the 11th round of La Liga, Barcelona faced Elche at home. Spanish media outlet Mundo Deportivo reported that Pedri will be sidelined for a month due to a muscle injury. Barcelona's starting lineup will feature a midfield combination that has never been seen this season, and De Jong will become the main core.

In the pre-match training, Flick arranged for two groups of players to compete in groups after a brief speech. Among the starting players against Real Madrid, two new faces appeared, Araujo and Casado replaced Kubasi and the injured Pedri.

After a few days of rest and based on the advice of the fitness team, Araujo joined training on Friday. This makes the starting lineup clear: Szczesny; Konde, Araujo, Eric Garcia, Balde; De Jong, Casado, Fermin; Yamal, Rashford, Ferran Torres.

The other group includes Lewandowski and Olmo, who have recovered from muscle injuries and will appear on the roster against Elche. However, Juan Garcia is still recovering from a meniscus injury in his knee, but he is training alone. Christensen remains a no-show, with the player experiencing calf discomfort last Saturday and unable to return in time. It is worth mentioning that second team central defender Mback also joined the training. He has recovered from injury.

The biggest question is who will replace Pedri. Flick admitted at the press conference that he was surprised by Pedri's injury, but he had several options to replace him. The most likely scenario is for Casado to partner with De Jong as a double defensive midfielder. De Jong will be the main organizer of the game.

This season, in 13 games, Casado and De Jong have not played together in the same position. In the game against Girona, De Jong served as an attacking midfielder. If Casado is not used, Flick has other options, although they are unlikely. He has used Eric Garcia in this position on several occasions, or he can use 19-year-old second-team midfielder Tommy Marquez.

source:kết quả bóng đá m7