Preview: Belarus v Spain

Si yo fuera central, sería Sergio Busquets?

Spain struggled in Tbilisi in September, and travel to Minsk with several selection questions ahead this week’s double header. Belarus lost their two opening games but Vicente Del Bosque has pointed to the problems they caused France in European Championship qualifying as well as strong showings at Olympic and under-21 level.

The absence of Gerard Piqué and Carles Puyol has left them pretty bare at the back. The only natural pairing available to Del Bosque in the centre is Sergio Ramos and Raúl Albiol. The latter has been out of of favour at the Bernabéu for two seasons now, and when called upon against Getafe back in August looked decidedly rusty when coughing up a goal.

Del Bosque is a hardened disciple of the double pivot and has not been a fan of playing players out of position in his back six. In this instance it’s impossible to avoid. The question is who drops back.

And curiously the consensus has emerged that the chosen one will be Sergio Busquets, though typically he refused to confirm this in Thursday’s press conference. 

Busquets has at times performed this function at club level, but it’s worth noting that when played there as part of a duo rather dropping back to form a back three, he’s looked uncomfortable.

Largely this has been down to pace, and this is likely to be a key factor in Belarus’ approach on Friday night. This danger was evident in BATE Borisov’s 3-1 victory over Bayern, and the Minsk side form the spine of the national team. 

In light of this it would be logical to go with Javi Martínez, who played there all of last season at Athletic before moving to Bayern; though there is a strong feeling that the former will be preferred by Del Bosque, having being trialled in this role during training matches. On Spanish radio tonight he all but confirmed that this will be the case.

One player who won’t be figuring is Andrés Iniesta, who returned from injury in the clásico.  Del Bosque wants to keep him fresh for the France game on Tuesday. There remains a question as to whether Del Bosque sticks with the customary double pivot. The expectation is that Santi Cazorla will come in enabling Xavi to play deeper

Finally, with David Villa fit but short on match practice, there is a doubt over whether he reverts to a more conventional frontline with the Barcelona forward supporting Fernando Torres, or if Cesc Fábregas continues as a false 9. 

With so much uncertainty about how the team will line up behind the attacking line, the conservative instincts of Del Bosque leave most of those close to the camp minded not to expect major changes in this zone. 

When Del Bosque spoke to Cadena SER’s El Larguero tonight he clarified his thoughts somewhat, though the forecasted XI below still needs to be treated with a health warning. 

Probable teams:

Belarus:

Veremenko; Poliakov, Matinovich, Verkhovstov, Bordachev; Kisiliak, Volodko, Bressan, Pavlov, Hleb; Rodionov

Spain

Casillas; Arbeloa, Busquets, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba; Santi Cazorla, Xabi Alonso, Xavi; Silva, Cesc, Pedro

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