FC Barcelona announce squad for La Liga match against Real Sociedad

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana travel to the Basque Country for a decisive La Liga game against Real Sociedad, and Xavi Hernández has called up the following 23 players for Thursday’s clash:

Goalkeepers: 1. Marc-André ter Stegen, 13. Neto, 27. Lazar Carevic

Defenders: 2. Sergiño Dest, 3. Gerard Piqué, 4. Ronald Araujo, 8. Dani Alves, 15. Clément Lenglet, 18. Jordi Alba, 22. Óscar Mingueza, 24. Eric García

Midfielders: 5. Sergio Busquets, 6. Riqui Puig, 14. Nico González, 21. Frenkie De Jong, 30. Gavi

Forwards: 7. Ousmane Dembélé, 9. Memphis Depay, 11. Adama Traoré, 12. Martin Braithwaite, 17. Luuk De Jong, 19. Ferran Torres, 25. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

There’s some very good news for this one as Xavi gets his two best defenders back: Ronald Araujo returns from suspension and Gerard Piqué gets the medical green light after missing the last three games with a groin problem. Three players miss this one through injury in Pedri (hamstring), Sergi Roberto (thigh) and Samuel Umtiti (foot), while Ansu Fati continues to train and wait for the medical clearance.

Predicted starting XI (4-3-3):

Ter Stegen; Alves, Araujo, Piqué, Alba; Nico, Busquets, Gavi; Dembélé, Aubameyang, Ferran

The match kicks off at 9.30pm CET (Barcelona), 8.30pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 3.30pm ET, 12.30pm PT (USA), 1am IST (India, Friday), and you’re welcome to join us to follow and comment all the action.

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