How should Barcelona line-up against Celta Vigo?

It’s another busy week for Barcelona who resume La Liga action on Saturday with Celta Vigo the visitors to Camp Nou.

Ernesto Valverde’s side also have a Champions League clash with Sporting on Tuesday to consider and a trip to Villarreal next Sunday on the horizon.

Barca rested many first-teamers in the Copa del Rey in midweek and we can expect most to return in what will be a strong looking team.

Here’s how they might line-up...

Defence

Celta’s form this season has been pretty inconsistent but they do tend to score goals in fact only Sociedad, Real Madrid, Valencia and Barca have scored more in La Liga this season.

As such Barca will need to continue their superb defensive form but will be confident with goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen playing some super stuff.

In front of him we should see Jordi Alba at left-back with Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti back together in the heart of the defence.

The only doubt is perhaps at right-back, Nelson Semedo started in midweek and might be given a rest, particularly as Sergi Roberto and Aleix Vidal are both fit again.

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

Midfield

We saw some impressive performances in midfield in midweek with Denis Suarez and youngsters Carles Alena and Oriol Busquets all impressing.

Busquets trained with the first-team again on Thursday but expect Valverde to bring Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic back in.

Paulinho started against Valencia and could also get the nod, while Roberto could even feature in midfield but Valverde may not be quite as pragmatic at home to Celta as he was away at Valencia.

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Attack

Barcelona have enjoyed scoring plenty of goals in recent seasons against Celta which is good news for Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi who are both due a goal.

Suarez’s struggles have been well-documented but Messi has not found the back of the net since the win over Athletic Bilbao at the end of October.

Finally, Paco Alcacer could complete the line-up, the striker scored again in midweek and has done the business whenever he’s been called upon this season.

Possible starting XI: Ter Stegen; Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba: Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Alcacer, Messi, Suarez.

Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Who do you think should feature on Saturday? Let us know your thoughts and line-ups in the comments below!