FC Barcelona announce squad for La Liga season opener against Getafe

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana begin their La Liga title defense with the first game of the new season away to Getafe at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, and Xavi Hernández has called up the following 21 players for Sunday’s clash:

Goalkeepers: 1. Marc-André ter Stegen, 26. Ander Astralaga

Defenders: 4. Ronald Araujo, 15. Andreas Christensen, 23. Jules Kounde, 24. Eric García, 28. Alejandro Balde

Midfielders: 6. Gavi, 8. Pedri, 18. Oriol Romeu, 20. Sergi Roberto, 21. Frenkie De Jong, 22. Ilkay Gündogan, 30. Marc Casadó, 32. Fermín López

Forwards: 7. Ferran Torres, 9. Robert Lewandowski, 10. Ansu Fati, 11. Raphinha, 16. Ez Abde, 27. Lamine Yamal

Barça go into this one without their full first team squad due to the inability of registering all of their players, so backup goalkeeper Iñaki Peña and defender Marcos Alonso miss out due to not having their contracts approved in time by La Liga. Iñigo Martínez also misses out as he is not registered and still recovering from injury, while Sergiño Dest and Clément Lenglet are no longer part of the coach’s plans and don’t make the trip to Madrid.

Barça Atlètic goalkeeper Ander Astralaga will be Marc-André ter Stegen’s understudy, while 16-year-old Lamine Yamal and midfielder Fermín López are also called up from the academy with a real chance of making their season debuts in this one. Alejandro Balde, who is also not registered yet, has been called up as a Barça Atlètic player which allows him to be available until his contract renewal is approved.

Predicted starting XI (4-3-3):

Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Pedri, Romeu, De Jong; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Gavi

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, Monday), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.

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