FC Barcelona announce squad for La Liga match against Real Sociedad

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana welcome Real Sociedad for what promises to be a very tough La Liga match, and Luis Enrique called up 18 players to be in uniform for this Saturday's game.

This is the squad in full:

Goalkeepers: 1. Ter Stegen, 13. Jasper Cillessen

Defenders: 3. Gerard Piqué, 18. Jordi Alba, 19. Lucas Digne, 20. Sergi Roberto, 23. Samuel Umtiti, 24. Jérémy Mathieu

Midfielders: 4. Ivan Rakitic, 5. Sergio Busquets, 6. Denis Suarez, 8. Andrés Iniesta, 21. André Gomes, 28. Carles Aleñá

Forwards: 9. Luis Suárez, 10. Lionel Messi, 17. Paco Alcácer, 39. Marc Cardona

There are plenty of absences for this game: Neymar serves the first of a three-game ban, while Javier Mascherano, Arda Turan, Rafinha Alcântara and Aleix Vidal miss out through injury. Since a matchday squad doesn't need three goalkeepers, Jordi Masip is left out and two players from Barça B, Aleñá and Cardona, were called to be in uniform. It's a thin squad.

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Predicted starting lineup (4-3-3):

Ter Stegen; Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Denis; Messi, Suárez, Alcácer

The match kicks off on Saturday at 8:45pm CET / 7:45pm BST (UK) / 2:45pm ET, 11:45am PT (USA) / 12:15am IST (India, Sunday), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.

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