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FC Barcelona's second official match of the season is upon us, as the Blaugrana will take on Villarreal at El Madrigal Stadium. Barça is unbeaten at Villarreal's home in the last five encounters, and they want to keep the streak alive to end Jornada 2 as the Liga leaders.
Luis Enrique has selected the eighteen players that will form the squad, and we could see the return of Neymar, as the Brazilian has been named by the boss to play on Sunday. Piqué is also back from suspension and is able to make his season debut.
In terms of absentees, Andrés Iniesta is the surprising name. Barça's captain has a knee discomfort, as described by Lucho, and the doctors thought it was better to have him rest for this match. Ter Stegen and Vermaelen are still nursing injuries. Luis Suárez and Javier Mascherano are suspended. Adriano Correia and new signing Doulgas Pereira had been left out of the squad per Enrique's decision.
These are the 18 men elected to put on uniform for Barça:
Claudio Bravo, Jordi Masip, Dani Alves, Martín Montoya, Gerard Piqué, Marc Bartra, Jérémy Mathieu, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Xavi Hernández, Sergi Roberto, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Munir El-Haddadi, Pedro, Rafinha Alcântara and Sandro.
Expected Starting Lineup (4-3-3) - Bravo; Alves, Piqué, Mathieu, Alba; Busquets, Xavi, Rakitic; Munir, Messi, Neymar.
The game starts on Sunday, at 19:00 CET. Vamos Barça!
