New signings Samuel Umtiti and Denis Suarez are handed their first league start as Barcelona take on Real Betis at Nou Camp for the season opener.
Luis Enrique has decided not to change much from Barcelona’s 5-0 aggregate win over Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup earlier in the week as he has preferred Sergi Roberto at the right-back position with Jordi Alba coming back into the starting lineup. Claudio Bravo starts in goal for Luis Enrique as Samuel Umtiti has been handed a start on his league debut for Barcelona in the absence of Javier Mascherano.
Denis Suarez has been named in the starting lineup as Andres Iniesta misses out due to injury and Arda Turan starts alongside Messi and Luis Suarez with Neymar on international duty for Brazil at the Rio Olympics.
?? Barça XI:
13.Bravo
3.Piqué
4.Rakitic
5.Sergio
6.Denis
7.Arda
9.Suárez
10.Messi
18.J.Alba
20.S.Roberto
23.Umtiti
#FCBlive— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 20, 2016
?? Barça subs.:
25.Masip
2.Douglas
16.Samper
17.Munir
19.Digne
22.Aleix Vidal
27.Kaptoum#FCBlive— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 20, 2016
Gus Poyet’s starting lineup in his first full season in charge of Real Betis has produced quite a few surprises with the former Sunderland manager opting to bench Chelsea star Charly Musonda, Dani Ceballos and veteran Joaquin while handing out starts to Petros and Jonas. Antonio Sanabria was a major doubt ahead of the game and his name on the starting lineup would provide a huge boost to Poyet’s hopes of causing trouble at Nou Camp on Saturday in an attempt to snatch some points from the defending Liga BBVA Champions.
This is our line-up for the first game of the season! ?⚪️#MuchoBetis pic.twitter.com/h9yu4XorGW
— Real Betis Balompié (@RealBetis_en) August 20, 2016
This looks set to be a mouth-watering clash and a match which could provide the viewers with some surprises as The Hard Tackle had noted in their match preview.
