How will Koeman replace Pedri against Sevilla?

Photo by Pressinphoto / Icon Sport

The midfielder is out with a calf injury

Barcelona face Sevilla on Wednesday in a crunch game at the Camp Nou with a place in this season’s Copa del Rey final up for grabs.

As we know, Sevilla lead 2-0 after the first leg but Barca beat the Andalusians by the same scoreline on Saturday in the league and will fancy their chances of turning the tie around.

Yet Koeman does have one big headache ahead of the game, namely how to replace Pedri who will miss out after suffering a calf problem against Sevilla.

The 18-year-old has been a regular fixture in the starting XI and his absence will be felt.

Koeman brought on 18-year-old Ilaix Moriba to replace Pedri on Saturday, and the youngster is certainly an option. The Barca boss handed Ilaix his debut in the Copa del Rey in January and then followed that up with a first La Liga start in the win over Alaves.

@IlaixMK's Impact: Came on in the 71st, set up #Messi's goal in the 85th. Not bad for an 18-year-old. #SevillaBarça pic.twitter.com/ATL8cdBRd9

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 27, 2021

The Dutchman clearly has plenty of faith in Ilaix but it would still be a big call to start the youngster in such a high-profile game given his lack of top-level experience. Moriba wasn’t part of the Barcelona B squad for today’s match with Lleida which suggests he’s likely to be in the matchday squad.

Another player hoping to get the nod is Riqui Puig. The midfielder hasn’t seen too much game time since starting in the win over Alaves but would be a good bet seeing as Barca will need to go on the attack to overturn the 2-0 deficit.

Photo by Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Miralem Pjanic, who missed Saturday’s match with an ankle problem, is another option but perhaps less likely to play. The midfielder is not having a great first season at Barcelona and was hooked at half-time against Elche in his last appearance.

The 30-year-old would offer more experience than both Puig and Ilaix but simply doesn’t seem to have Koeman’s faith and it would be something of a surprise if he did get the nod alongside Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets in midfield.

Koeman could also change his system again and bring in another attacker instead such as Francisco Trincao or Antoine Griezmann. Neither player got off the bench against Sevilla at the weekend but are capable of supplying goals.

The Barca boss got his tactics spot on during Saturday’s match as his team won 2-0 and will need to get the formula right again on Wednesday in a competition which still looks the club’s best chance of silverware this season.

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