Barcelona measures its emergencies with those of Alavés

a needy Deportivo Alavesantepenultimate and in the relegation zone, will evaluate this Sunday the Barcelona crisissixth and recently eliminated from the Copa del Rey at the hands of Athletic Club, and who has the opportunity in LaLiga Santander to grow in the classification to return to the Champions League positions.

On the part of the locals, the unknown lies in the response capacity they offer after the thrashing they received at the Benito Villamarín against Real Betis (4-0), after offering a good image against Real Sociedad and Athletic Club.

One of the duties of José Luis Mendilibar's team is the goal. So far, the babazorros have only managed one goal since the arrival of the Biscayan coach and they did it from the penalty spot, so they will need to generate more chances to get out of the relegation places in which they find themselves.

The Basques are mired in the worst run of results since they returned to the First Division six seasons ago and they have already accumulated nine games without winning.

For this match, the Zaldibar coach will make changes again, some of them forced by the physical situation of several players. This is the case of Rubén Duarte, who retired injured in Seville and will hand over his position to youth squad Javi López.

The right wing could be for Martín Aguirregabiriabecause Ximo Navarro is still in the dry dock, although the Argentine Nahuel Tenaglia could be registered at the last minute for this duel.

The axis of defense will change and it seems that the Basque coach will recover the couple formed by Víctor Laguardia and Florian Lejeune, after the Frenchman has served a game of suspension for accumulation of warnings.

Despite the absence of Mamadou Loum - in the African Cup with Senegal - it is not clear who will occupy the midfield, after the changes of the last game.

Everything indicates that Gonzalo Escalante will repeat in that areabut his companion could be Toni Moya or Tomás Pina.

Pere Pons could be a candidate to occupy the right wing that has no owner so far this season and through which Édgar Méndez, Manu García, Facundo Pellistri or Iván Martín have passed. But nevertheless, the left flank has the name of Luis Rioja, key in the first leg match against the Blaugrana.

In the attack zone Joselu Mato is another of the indisputable and could be accompanied by Miguel De la Fuente.

The Barcelona suffered a jug of cold water when falling eliminated from the Copa del Rey in the round of 16 against Athletic Club (3-2)where he saw how the illusion generated by the growth of the team since the arrival of Xavi Hernández was crumbling, showing a bad image that he will try to repair this Sunday in the visit to an Alavés in relegation positions.

Barça's version in San Mamés was very far from the one offered the previous week in the semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup played against Real Madrid in Riyadh, where, despite also being eliminated in extra time (2-3), the Barça team demonstrated for the first time this season that they are in a position to compete from you to you against a big team.

As if that were not enough, Barça took away from Bilbao a significant level of tiredness in their legs, which could be seen in extra time in players like Pedro Gónzález 'Pedri' and Gerard Piqué. But the worst news was the relapse of Ansu Fatiwho was injured in the femoral biceps of his left leg and could have to undergo surgery.

A) Yes, Xavi Hernández's team is once again in the box in the attack zone, taking into account that the same Thursday the club decided that Ousmane Dembélé will not wear the Barça shirt again because of his refusal to renew.

To this is added the absence of Memphis Depaywho still hasn't recovered from his overload in the hamstring of his left leg and will surely not be on the list that the coach will give on Sunday.

In addition, in the Barça infirmary are the central defenders Eric Garcia and Samuel Umtiti, and the midfielder Sergi Roberto, while Gavi will not play due to suspension.

On the other hand, Luuk de Jong, who has scored in the last three games he has played, will return to the squad after serving a suspension in the Copa del Rey.

Martin Braithwaite could also count on minutes up frontwho reappeared to play the last minutes of extra time in San Mamés after his serious knee injury that kept him sidelined for four months.

The physical and mental exhaustion accumulated just 72 hours before the match against Alavés could cause Xavi to make some rotations in the starting eleven, bringing in players like Clément Lenglet, Nico González or Frenkie de Jong, who were substitutes against Athletic Club .

Barça's main objective for the remainder of the season is to get a ticket for the Champions League of the next course. The fourth classified, Atlético de Madrid, is just one point before the start of the day.