Jordi Alba and Nelson Semedo will return to the starting lineup while Frenkie de Jong misses out for Barcelona’s meeting with Sevilla.
Barcelona will be eager to continue their winning run when they lock horns with Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on Friday night. And, Quique Setien has a couple of fresh injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Frenkie de Jong and Sergi Roberto miss out for Barcelona against Sevilla due to minor injuries, with Samuel Umtiti excluded from the travelling squad due to his own fitness issue. The only other absentee for Barcelona is Ousmane Dembele, who is out with a long-term hamstring injury.
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Meanwhile, Setien has once again picked several reserve and youth team stars in his latest squad, those being Inaki Pena, Alex Collado, Ronald Araujo, Kike Saverio, Chumi and Monchu. The Barcelona manager, though, spoke about the absence of Roberto and de Jong in his pre-match press conference (h/t Barca Blaugranes).
“It’s a pity. We weren’t expecting to lose him [Roberto]. We’ll see how he develops and how his injury progresses. If he can withstand the pain then we will have him gradually back. He held out well against Leganes even though the damage had already been done. We’ll see how he feels. There’s no forecast of when he’ll return, if it’ll be one game or a few. It will depend on how he goes.”
“Frenkie has a niggle that hasn’t quite cleared up yet. Instead of risking him and making it more serious we prefer for him to come back fully fit. We’d rather he missed one than four because the situation got worse.”
In Roberto’s absence, Nelson Semedo becomes an automatic pick for Barcelona as their right-back. Semedo will be partnered in the back-line by Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet and Jordi Alba, who returns to the side after serving out a suspension last time out against Leganes. Meanwhile, Marc-Andre ter Stegen is the obvious pick in goal.
In midfield, de Jong’s unavailability means former Sevilla star Ivan Rakitic should keep hold of his place, especially after a solid showing against Leganes. Sergio Busquets is a certain starter at the base of the midfield. As for the third man in the middle of the park, Arturo Vidal should get the nod after an underwhelming showing by Arthur.
Up ahead in attack, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann pick themselves. The final spot in the side should be taken up by Martin Braithwaite, with Luis Suarez still building up his fitness after a long time on sidelines. Ansu Fati and Suarez will be the backup attacking options for Barcelona against Sevilla.