Barça squad named for Málaga trip

Ernesto Valverde has called up 18 players for Saturday’s trip to Málaga

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana travel to Málaga for a big La Liga game for the leaders, and Ernesto Valverde has called up 18 players for Saturday’s matchup.

This is the full squad:

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Goalkeepers: 1. Marc-André ter Stegen, 13. Jasper Cillessen

Defenders: 3. Gerard Piqué, 18. Jordi Alba, 19. Lucas Digne, 20. Sergi Roberto, 23. Samuel Umtiti, 25. Thomas Vermaelen

Midfielders: 4. Ivan Rakitic, 5. Sergio Busquets, 11. Philippe Coutinho, 15. Paulinho Bezerra, 21. André Gomes, 22. Aleix Vidal

Forwards: 9. Luis Suárez, 10. Lionel Messi, 11. Ousmane Dembélé, 17. Paco Alcácer

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Valverde didn’t have a lot to choose from in this one thanks to the injuries to Nélson Semedo and Andrés Iniesta, as well as Denis Suarez. Yerry Mina is the only one left out per the choice of the manager, which is both weird and sad.

Predicted starting XI (4-4-2):

Ter Stegen; Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Dembélé, Rakitic, Busquets, Coutinho; Messi, Suárez

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The match kicks off at 8.45pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 7.45pm BST (UK), 2.45pm EST, 11.45am PST (USA), 1.15am IST (India, next day), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.

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