18 Players in Barcelona squad to face Villarreal

Coach Luis Enrique is aware of the threat posed by Fran Escribá’s men as they’ve been in great form in the league this season, and although Barça have been the better team in recent encounters, they will be given a fight on Sunday night.

• AMAZING STATS AND FACTS FROM THE VILLARREAL-BARCELONA GAME

Lucho has named 18 players in his squad that will travel to Madrid for the game and it’s a strong one, similar to the squad that faced Athletic Bilbao during the weekend. Jasper Cillessen is the only player that won’t be travelling with the squad due to injury while defender Jérémy Mathieu has received the medical greenlight but was left out for technical reasons.

Denis Suárez returns to the squad list after being left out of the Athletic game. Jordi Masip comes in place of the injured Cillessen. Star players including the MSN, Iniesta, Busquets and Gerard Pique all feature as expected but Ivan Rakitic was surprisingly left out of the squad for technical reasons.

• VILLARREAL VS BARÇA MATCH PREVIEW

BARÇA SQUAD VS VILLARREAL

Goalkeepers: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Jordi Masip;

Defenders: Sergi Roberto, Javier Mascherano, Gerard Piqué, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne, Jordi Alba;

Midfielders: André Gomes, Rafinha Alcántara, Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta, Arda Turan, Denis Suárez;

Forwards: Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Neymar, Paco Alcácer