Gemma Font, 27, is expected to start in goal when Barcelona visit Costa Adeje Tenerife on Sunday at 19:00 at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López.
The selection marks a notable change for Barcelona: Cata Coll did not travel to Tenerife and will miss the trip for technical reasons, and Martine Fenger also missed the travel list for technical reasons. Laia Aleixandri and Graham Hansen are absent for medical reasons. Adriana Ranera and Txell Font — the 21-year-old starting goalkeeper for Barça B — are the main new names in Barcelona's squad for the match.
Font has made ten appearances this season and is expected to take the starting spot in a match that comes after Barcelona clinched the league title at Espanyol's ground and followed up with a 5-0 win over Levante at the Johan Cruyff. Barcelona have lost only one match in the league this season, against Real Sociedad.
Costa Adeje Tenerife arrive with a defensive record that gives them real cause for confidence: they are the second least-goaled team in the league, have conceded 17 goals this season and have suffered only three league defeats. They are level on points with Atlético de Madrid in the fight for fourth place, and Natalia Ramos — with nine goals — is their top scorer.
The two sides met earlier in the season, when Barcelona beat Tenerife 2-0 in the first leg. Tenerife's other league defeat this campaign was a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid. The last time Tenerife beat Barcelona was in 2019, when María José scored the only goal.
Speaking ahead of the match, Pere Romeu warned of the challenge Tenerife pose: "Es un rival fuerte, de los buenos de la liga, es un equipo que juega bien y ofrece siempre un tono competitivo alto, en la ida nos complicaron las cosas." Romeu also pointed to Barcelona's rotation over the season and the coach's options now that there are two weeks without midweek games: "Durante toda la liga nos hemos destacado por mover mucho el once. Hemos rotado mucho pero ahora tenemos dos semanas limpias entre las finales y eso nos da margen para sacar el once que creamos sin depender tanto del estado físico de las jugadoras."
Yeray Martín, speaking from the Tenerife side, set the tone for a tough evening: "Nos enfrentamos al mejor equipo de España y a uno de los grandes equipos de Europa. El Barcelona no afloja, independientemente del 11 titular que pueda comenzar el partido. Cuentan con jugadoras de gran nivel y sabemos que será un encuentro muy atractivo, aunque con mucha dificultad."
The match is more than a routine league fixture. For Barcelona it is a live test of squad depth and rotation after a season in which they have already secured the title and are approaching two finals at the end of the campaign. For Tenerife, the game is an opportunity to press their claim for a top-four finish against a side that has only stumbled once in the league.
A small but notable piece of local theatre follows the final whistle: a concert by Abraham Mateo will take place at the stadium after the match, ensuring a late-night crowd whether on the pitch the result is one-sided or tight. On the field, the key question is straightforward: can Gemma Font and the rotated Barcelona eleven break down a team that has conceded just 17 goals, or will Tenerife's defensive record stand up and turn Sunday evening into another stubborn test?
Given Barcelona's depth, recent form and the 2-0 win in the first meeting, they remain the clear favorites on paper. But Tenerife's record this season — only three defeats and few goals conceded — means the fixture promises a competitive match that could expose the limits of rotation ahead of Barcelona's decisive weekend fixtures.
