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| Neymar, Messi and Suárez in training | Image: FCB |
FC Barcelona host Granada in their tenth game of the 2016/2017 La Liga season as they look to defend their title and coach Luis Enrique has named 18 Players in the Squad to face Lucas Alcaraz men at the Camp Nou.
Barça have been blighted with a number of injuries with the most recent being Jérémy Mathieu. The defender picked up a calf injury to his right leg in Barcelona’s 1-0 Supercopa de Catalunya loss to Espanyol on Tuesday night and will be out for three weeks.
The defender joins Andrés Iniesta, Gérard Pique and Jordi Alba in the hospital bed and they will all miss the game against Granada, leaving only 17 first team players available for selection.
Aleix Vidal, who picked up a knock just before the Espanyol game, is still not fit and hasn’t been given the medical greenlight to feature, hence, he’s not been handed a call-up by coach Luis Enrique. Arda Turan is also not fit to feature.
Rafinha Alcántara picked up an injury that saw him miss the game against Valencia last week but trained with the team since on Thursday and has been given the medical greenlight to feature, hence, has a place in the squad.
The same applies to Jasper Cillessen, the goalkeeper picked up an injury while on international duty with The Netherlands in the last international break but trained without problems since on Thursday and featured in the squad ahead of Jordi Masip.
Luis Enrique included three players from the B-team in Marlon, Nili and Aleña to fill in the vacant spaces, they will wear 33, 31 and 28 respectively.
BARCELONA SQUAD VS GRANADA
Goalkeepers: Marc André Ter Stegen, Jasper Cillessen;
Defenders: Nili, Sergi Roberto, Javier Mascherano, Samuel Umtiti, Marlon Santos, Lucas Digne;
Midfielders: Ivan Rakitic, Sérgio Busquets, André Gomes, Denis Suárez, Carles Aleña, Rafinha Alcántara;
Forwards: Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Paco Alcácer, Neymar