How should Barcelona line up against Sporting Lisbon?

Barcelona continue their Champions League campaign with a trip to Portugal to take on Sporting Lisbon.

The trip comes at a good time for Barcelona after another win over the weekend in La Liga.

However, this game will be a good test of Barcelona’s squad and should be a decent opportunity to see how they’ll fare on short rest once again.

Let’s look at how Barcelona could line up on Wednesday:

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Defence

At the core of the Barcelona’s defence we have No.1 Marc-Andre ter Stegen lining up in goal.

With regards the back four we can expect the core of Barcelona’s back line to be intact.

That means Nelson Semedo returning at right-back and Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Jordi Alba in the starting lineup for Ernesto Valverde’s side.

Midfield

The midfield is a bit of a gamble but the most likely line-up for Barcelona would be Andrés Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic, and Sergio Busquets.

However, given some of the recent changes we have seen, anyone from Sergi Roberto to Paulinho could start, should Valverde feel it necessary tactically.

Attack

Life without Ousmane Dembele continues for Barcelona. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez can expect to take their places up top. Gerard Deulofeu was included in the squad for this match-up, so he will probably take his place alongside the Barcelona stars.

Aleix Vidal or Sergi Roberto may feature in a different lineup should Valverde wish to keep Deulofeu out of the starting lineup for whatever reason. But in all likelihood we’ll be seeing Deulofeu, Suarez, and Messi in the Barcelona attack.

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Possible XI: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Busquets, Iniesta, Rakitic; Messi, Suarez, Deulofeu.

Who do you think should start against Sporting Lisbon? Let us know your thoughts and line-ups in the comments below!