FC Barcelona announce squad for La Liga match against Espanyol

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana play the biggest game of their season as they face crosstown rivals Espanyol in a massive derby at the RCDE Stadium with a chance to win La Liga, and Xavi Hernández has called up the following 22 players for Sunday’s clash:

Goalkeepers: 1. Marc-André ter Stegen, 13. Iñaki Peña, 36. Arnau Tenas

Defenders: 4. Ronald Araujo, 15. Andreas Christensen, 17. Marcos Alonso, 18. Jordi Alba, 23. Jules Kounde, 24. Eric García, 28. Alejandro Balde

Midfielders: 5. Sergio Busquets, 8. Pedri, 19. Franck Kessie, 20. Sergi Roberto, 21. Frenkie De Jong, 30. Gavi, 32. Pablo Torre

Forwards: 7. Ousmane Dembélé, 9. Robert Lewandowski, 10. Ansu Fati, 11. Ferran Torres, 22. Raphinha

Xavi has a full first team squad healthy and available for selection for the first time since January, which is great news considering the importance of the game. Sergi Roberto has made a quicker recovery than expected from his hamstring injury and is back in the group, which has no Barça Atlètic or under-19 players this time.

Predicted starting XI (4-3-3):

Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Pedri, Busquets, De Jong; Dembélé, Lewandowski, Gavi

The match kicks off at 9pm CET (Barcelona), 8pm BST/WAT (UK), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 12.30am IST (India, Monday), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.

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