FC Barcelona announce squad for Copa del Rey first leg against Sevilla

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana will play the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals away to Sevilla, and Ernesto Valverde has called up the following 19 players* for the trip to Seville:

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

Defenders: 2. Nélson Semedo, 3. Gerard Piqué, 15. Clément Lenglet, 18. Jordi Alba, 24. Thomas Vermaelen

Midfielders: 4. Ivan Rakitic, 6. Denis Suarez, 7. Philippe Coutinho, 8. Arthur, 20. Sergi Roberto, 21. Carles Aleñá, 22. Arturo Vidal, 28. Riqui Puig, 35. Oriol Busquets

Forwards: 9. Luis Suárez, 14. Malcom, 19. Kevin-Prince Boateng

The big news here is that new signing Kevin-Prince Boateng is already included in the squad, though it’s unclear whether he has any chance to start or even play, but it’s good that he’s there to provide attacking depth.

Valverde once again opts to rest Lionel Messi in the first leg of a Copa tie, with Sergio Busquets also getting the night off. Sergi Samper didn’t make the trip per the manager’s decision, while Ousmane Dembélé (ankle), Samuel Umtiti (knee) and Rafinha (knee) miss out through injury. Before the match, one player in the squad will be cut since only 18 can be in uniform.

Predicted starting XI (4-3-3):

Cillessen; Semedo, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Vidal, Rakitic, Arthur; Malcom, Suárez, Coutinho

The match kicks off at 9.30pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8.30pm GMT (UK), 3.30pm ET, 12.30pm PT (USA), 2am IST (India, Thursday), and you can join our live blog to follow and comment all the action.

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