Luis Enrique has chosen to start with the trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar up-front as Barcelona seek to avoid back-to-back losses in the league.
Luis Enrique’s attempt at squad rotation had backfired last weekend as they succumbed to a defeat to newly promoted Deportivo Alaves and the Spaniard has chosen to play it safe by starting most of the stars against another newly promoted side in Leganes.
Barça XI ??
1.Ter Stegen
3.Piqué
4.Rakitic
8.Iniesta
9.Suárez
10.Messi
11.Neymar
12.Rafinha
14.Mascherano
18.Jordi Alba
23.Umtiti#FCBLive— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 17, 2016
? Barça substitutes:
13. Cillessen
6. Denis
7. Arda
17. Paco Alcácer
20. Sergi Roberto
21. André Gomes
24. Mathieu #FCBLive— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 17, 2016
Umtiti’s performance at Celtic has earned him a start in La Liga while Ter Stegen retains his place in goal. It would be interesting to see the formation that has been deployed by Enrique as he has named Mascherano in the starting lineup with no full-backs present, which is likely to mean a 3-man defence.
Estos son los 11 valientes pepineros que defenderán la camiseta blanquiazul ante el F.C. Barcelona #LeganésBarça pic.twitter.com/2UU356zWCU
— C.D. Leganés (@CDLeganes) September 17, 2016
It is going to be intriguing to see how the 3-man defence plays out in today’s game as Luis Enrique would like to avoid any upset and get Barcelona’s title defence back on track.