Barcelona announce squad for La Liga match against Real Betis

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana begin their title defense at home, opening La Liga with a game against Real Betis, and coach Luis Enrique has called up his squad for the match.

This was somewhat of a selection headache for Enrique, who doesn't have seven first team players available: Ter Stegen, Iniesta, Mascherano and Mathieu are injured, André Gomes is suspended and Neymar and Rafinha are still in Rio for the Olympics. Because of that, Lucho went to Barça B for some help and called up young midfielder Wilfried Kaptoum, a pleasant surprise. Douglas Pereira, who's somehow still a Barcelona player, is also on the squad.

These are the eighteen men called up by Lucho to be in uniform at Camp Nou:

Goalkeepers: 13. Claudio Bravo, 25. Jordi Masip

Defenders: 2. Douglas Pereira, 3. Gerard Piqué, 18. Jordi Alba, 19. Lucas Digne, 22. Aleix Vidal, 23. Samuel Umtiti

Midfielders: 4. Ivan Rakitic, 5. Sergio Busquets, 6. Denis Suarez, 7. Arda Turan, 16. Sergi Samper, 20. Sergi Roberto, 27. Wilfried Kaptoum

Forwards: 9. Luis Suárez, 10. Lionel Messi, 17. Munir El-Haddadi

*****

Projected Starting Lineup (4-3-3):

Bravo | Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Digne | Busquets, Rakitic, Denis | Messi, Suárez, Arda

*****

The match starts at 18:15 CET / 17:15 BST (UK), 12:15 ET, 9:15 PT (US), 21:45 IST (India), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.

VISCA EL BARÇA!