The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana kick off a new season with a trip to Elche for the first La Liga game of the campaign, and Hansi Flick has called up the following 23 players for Sunday’s clash:
Goalkeepers: Joan Garcia, Wojciech Szczesny, Eder Aller
Defenders: João Cancelo, Alejandro Balde, Pau Cubarsí, Xavi Espart, Andreas Christensen, Gerard Martín, Jules Kounde, Eric Garcia
Midfielders: Fermín López, Pedri, Rodri, Dani Olmo, Marc Bernal, Brian Fariñas
Forwards: Lamine Yamal, Raphinha,
Karim Adeyemi, Anthony Gordon, Hamza Abdelkarim
The big news for this one is a first call-up for new signing Rodri, who is expected to make his debut in the second half tonight. Alejandro Balde is back in the squad after missing out at the weekend due to uncertainty around his future while Marc Casadó, Álvaro Cortés and Héctor Fort are left out as they finalize their exits from the club. Gavi (knee), Frenkie de Jong (knee) and Roony Bardghji (knee) miss out through injury.
Predicted starting XI (4-3-3):
Joan; Eric, Cubarsí, Martín, Espart; Fermín, Bernal, Pedri; Yamal, Raphinha, Adeyemi
The match kicks off at 9pm CET (Barcelona), 8pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 12.30am IST (India, Friday), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.
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