Barcelona squad named for Champions League debut against Roma

PIQUÉ IS BACK!!!

The next Barcelona match is upon us! In two days time, the Blaugrana begin their quest to back-to-back UEFA Champions League titles when they face Italian giants AS Roma at Stadio Olimpico in the first match of Group E. And coach Luis Enrique has already picked his squad for Wednesday's game.

The Asturian manager decided to call up 20 players for the trip to the Italian capital, including star center-back Gerard Piqué. The defender is still banned for four matches and will miss one more domestic match, but his suspension does not carry over to European competition. Alongside Piqué, Gerard Gumbau and José Suárez from Barça B are the new additions to the squad list. Missing the game due to injury: Claudio Bravo, Dani Alves, Douglas Pereira and Thomas Vermaelen. Unavailable signings Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal will too stay home and will not board the plane.

Minutes before the match, Enrique will cut two players to form the definitive squad for the game. These are the 20 players chosen by Lucho for the trip:

Goalkeepers: 1. Marc-André ter Stegen, 25. Jordi Masip, 31. José Suárez

Defenders: 3. Gerard Piqué, 14. Javier Mascherano, 15. Marc Bartra, 18. Jordi Alba, 21. Adriano Correia, 24. Jérémy Mathieu

Midfielders: 4. Ivan Rakitic, 5. Sergio Busquets, 8. Andrés Iniesta, 12. Rafinha Alcântara, 20. Sergi Roberto, 28. Gerard Gumbau

Forwards: 9. Luis Suárez, 10. Lionel Messi, 11. Neymar Jr., 17. Munir El-Haddadi, 19. Sandro Ramírez

Projected Starting Lineup (4-3-3)

Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta; Messi, Suárez, Neymar

Bench: Masip, Bartra, Adriano, Mathieu, Rafinha, Munir, Sandro

The match starts at 20:45 CET, and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.

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Source: Renato Goncalves http://ift.tt/1KO1Uht