18 players in Barcelona squad to face Real Betis

FC Barcelona kick off their title defence when they welcome Real Betis to the Camp Nou on Saturday evening (today) for their first La Liga game of the 2016/2016 and will be looking to start off with a win. Luis Enrique has named a squad of 18 players to face the Andalusian club.

Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo is very likely to play his last game for FC Barcelona before joining Manchester City and will definitely start due to the absence of Marc Andre Ter Stegen through injury. The Chilean goalkeeper is joined by third choice goalie Jordi Masip in the squad list.

Captain Andres Iniesta is out of the tie with a knee injury which means newly promoted midfielder Sergi Samper is included in the squad. The 21-year old played the last 15 minutes of FC Barcelona 3-0 win against Sevilla in midweek and is likely to feature tonight as new signing Andre Gomes is unavailable for the game due to a suspension he picked up during his time at Valencia last season.

Due to the absence of Andre Gomes and Andres Iniesta, Luis Enrique decided to call up Barcelona B midfielder Wilfried Kaptoum for the game and there was another surprise call-up in Brazilian right back Douglas Pereira who joins Sergi Roberto and Aleix Vidal as available players for the right back position.

Central defenders Jeremy Mathieu and Javier Mascherano are both out through injuries, leaving Barça with only Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti to do with in central defence. This means both players are likely to play the entire 90 minutes. Lucas Digne and Jordi Alba fill up the left back spot.

There are no surprises in attack as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Munir El Haddadi and Arda Turan were all called up for the game as expected. Neymar and Rafinha are unavailable as they represent Brazil in the final of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Goalkeepers: Claudio Bravo, Jordi Masip;

Defenders: Aleix Vidal, Sergi Roberto, Douglas Pereira, Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Jordi Alba, Lucas Digne;

Midfielders: Ivan Rakitic, Wilfried Kaptoum, Sergi Samper, Sergio Busquets, Denis Suarez;

Forwards: Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Munir El Haddadi, Arda Turan.