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RONALD KOEMAN is ready to unleash Philippe Coutinho, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann when Barcelona begin their LaLiga season.
The club will seek to end a tumultuous preseason with a win over Villarreal on Sunday.
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Koeman only took charge of the Catalans a little over a month ago, but he’s had a very busy start at the Camp Nou.
Luis Suárez went to Atlético de Madrid, but Messi remains despite trying to enact a termination clause in his contract.
And even with the Uruguayan leaving, Barcelona have an impressive array of offensive talent.
Together with Messi, Griezmann and Ansu Fati are expected to start Sunday’s match at 8:00 p.m.
Coutinho could complete the attack with Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets anchoring midfield in a 4-2-3-1 setup.
Ousmane Dembele and Miralem Pjanic are pushing to start, but Sport believes both will miss out as the Bosnian is not fit yet.
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Koeman has a fairly simple decision to make in defense with Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba his elected full-backs.
Negotiations to bring Sergino Dest or Max Aarons to Spain are reportedly ongoing, following the transfer of Nelson Semedo to Wolves.
Gerard Piqué and Clement Lenglet will rejoin in defense, opposite goalkeeper Neto, after Marc-Andre ter Stegen was ruled out with a knee injury.
New signing Francisco Trincao is likely to be on the bench, along with Pedri, after Barcelona reportedly turned down a loan offer from PSV Eindhoven for the young midfielder.
Martin Braithwaite is injured, while a spot for Rafinha, Junior Firpo or Jean-Clair Tobido would be a surprise.
Ahead of the Camp Nou clash, Koeman has achieved a trio of preseason victories, eliminating Girona, Elche and Gimnastic.
The first weeks of LaLiga have been affected by the granting of extra time to the clubs in the European action of August, which means that Villarreal have already played twice before the first Barcelona game.
Unai Emery’s team ranks third at this point, beating Eibar last week after a draw with newly promoted Huesca.
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