Three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Aston Villa | UEFA Champions League

Three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Aston Villa | UEFA Champions League Barcelona marched past Deportivo Alaves with a commanding 6-1 win in La Liga at the weekend, and they are now preparing to host a massive UEFA Champions League game tomorrow night. After their 4-2 defeat to PSG in the competition, the Blaugrana are finally set to return to action and will be locking horns against Aston Villa in the UCL tomorrow night. The visitors are unbeaten in the competition so far and have scored a staggering 12 goals in their three games. With only three goals conceded, their goal difference is an astounding +9. For comparison, Barcelona have scored just 11 goals and conceded six times, and those numbers themselves put into perspective the kind of form Aston Villa are in. The Spotify Camp Nou, in that sense, is in for a treat. Barça Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Aston Villa. A defensive decision As Barcelona prepare to take on Aston Villa in the UEFA Champions League, the department under he brightest spotlight remains the defence. After all, Eric Garcia, Jules Kounde, Xavi Espart and Andreas Christensen will all remain unavailable on the night in what comes as a major blow for the Catalans. There was some hope of Christensen, Kounde or Garcia making it back in time, but none of the players have made it back . Flick counted on Brian Farinas and Frenkie de Jong as part of his backline against Deportivo Alaves midweek, and both players left the field with promising performances. They remain options to start in defence again tomorrow, although the stakes are far higher. Major decisions to be made in defence. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) With Aston Villa being a far more attacking team, Flick’s first dilemma is whether to start De Jong in defence once more or to risk Gerard Martin, who has been playing with a niggle for a while. The second big question is on the right-back position. Farinas’ debut was promising, but throwing him into a UCL game may be a tad bit too much pressure. In that case, Flick can count on Joao Cancelo at right-back and Alejandro Balde at left-back. The coach, thus, has some big defensive decisions to make, which will play a massive role in deciding the final result. No choice but to win The opening two match days of the UEFA Champions League were exceptional for Barcelona, as they took home wins with relative ease. Their third clash against PSG, however, was the one that received the closest attention, and the Catalans slipped up on that night in France. From a relatively comfortable 2-2 position with less than ten minutes to go, the defence collapsed and conceded twice, resulting in a 4-2 defeat. While the loss did not have great immediate consequences, it did take three points away from Barcelona. As a result of that game, Barcelona have now dropped to eighth place in the standings and must tread carefully as they do not have too much margin for error remaining. Given how they are yet to play Manchester City, they will need to pick up as many wins as they can along the way. Taking all three points against Aston Villa, in that sense, is crucial if Barcelona are to stay in strong contention of a top-eight finish. Barcelona lost to PSG in their last UCL fixture. (Photo by Franco Arland/Getty Images) Flick and co., thus, must come out with all cylinders firing and gun down a win against the Premier League side at any cost. The pressure that will come with a defeat, after all, is simply not worth the hassle. Need for sustainability As much as Barcelona’s game against Aston Villa tomorrow is a must-win for all practical purposes, they have another massive game ahead of them later this week and cannot afford to tire themselves out. The Catalans’ next game in La Liga is against Atletico Madrid, and given how Los Rojiblancos are closely tailing them, beating them in the domestic competition is a must. Beyond just the standings and its implications, losing to Atletico Madrid days after losing to Real Madrid will come as a big psychological blow for the dressing room. The clashes against PSG and Real Madrid showed that a fatigued Barcelona side can be beaten, and it is thus critical that the game against Aston Villa tomorrow is handled sustainably. Winning without exhausting resources and compromising them, thus, should be Flick’s objective, as there is another big game in just a few days’ time. It remains to be seen if the manager pushes in some minor rotations into the starting lineup tomorrow or opts to bring on key players early if the game is settled. In any case, there should be a clear plan in mind to balance the minutes of key names.