Just two games into the Liga season, and FC Barcelona are already
the only team that has a one hundred per cent record. After beating
Elche 3-0 at the Camp Nou and then winning 1-0 in Villarreal, the side
are in a buoyant mood as they prepare to take on Athletic Bilbao at
home. But this game is the first of a marathon series of fixtures –
Barça have seven games in just 22 days ahead of them!
Full squad
Luis Enrique has a virtually full squad at
his disposal for Saturday afternoon’s game (4.00 PM CET). The returns of
Javier Mascherano (suspended against Villarreal), Marc-André ter Stegen
(missing through injury for the first two league matches) and Andrés
Iniesta (who sat out the Villarreal game)were confirmed on the morning
of the match. Mathieu, Leo Messi and Adriano have also been declared fit
to play.
So, the only absentees from today’s squad are the
injured Alves, Jordi Masip (with a fractured finger) and Vermaelen as
well as Douglas, Bartra and Rafinha, who the manager has decided to
rest.
Champions League on the horizon
Both sides go into this game with Europe on their minds. The Basques
will be hosting Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday at San Mamés, while FC
Barcelona also start their UCL campaign at home, the day after against
Apoel Nicosia of Cyprus. Luis Enrique already admitted at his Friday
press conference that this was one of several factors that would
condition his team selection for Saturday, two others being the fact
that several of his players have only just returned from international
duty and that over the next three weeks, he’ll have almost one match
every three days to think about. Nine different players appeared in both
of Barça’s first two league outings, but perhaps this is the time for
him to start rotating his bench?
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