Barcelona announce squad for Champions League match against Olympiacos

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana welcome Olympiacos to the Camp Nou for a big Champions League game for the Catalan giants, and Ernesto Valverde has called 18 players to be in uniform tonight.

This is the full squad:

Goalkeepers: 1. Marc-André ter Stegen, 13. Jasper Cillessen

Defenders: 2. Nélson Semedo, 3. Gerard Piqué, 14. Javier Mascherano, 19. Lucas Digne, 23. Samuel Umtiti

Midfielders: 4. Ivan Rakitic, 5. Sergio Busquets, 6. Denis Suarez, 8. Andrés Iniesta, 15. Paulinho Bezerra, 20. Sergi Roberto, 21. André Gomes

Forwards: 9. Luis Suárez, 10. Lionel Messi, 16. Gerard Deulofeu, 17. Paco Alcácer

The surprising absence is Jordi Alba, but the reason the full-back misses out is a muscle injury picked up in training. He shouldn’t miss too much time, but he’s out of this game. Arda Turan, Ousmane Dembélé and Rafinha Alcântara also miss out through injury, while Thomas Vermaelen and Aleix Vidal will watch the game from the stands per Valverde’s decision. The surprising inclusion is Paco Alcácer, who looks out of favor with Valverde but may get a chance in this one.

Predicted starting lineup (4-3-3):

Ter Stegen; Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Digne; Paulinho, Rakitic, Iniesta; Deulofeu, Messi, Suárez

The match kicks off on Wednesday night 8:45pm CET / 7:45pm (UK & Nigeria) / 2:45pm ET, 11:45am PT (USA) / 12:15am IST (India, Thursday), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.

VISCA EL BARÇA!