How to catch up with Barca stars during the international break

Barcelona aren’t back in action until Saturday when they face Sevilla but the players have got a busy week and will be putting in plenty of mileage. Here’s a look at what they’re up to.

Luis Suarez faces Wales in China Cup

Luis Suarez is still in China where Uruguay face Wales in the final of the China Cup at the Guangxi Stadium. The striker is expected to feature in the match, after scoring against Czech Republic last time out, and will then make the long trip back to Europe.

Andre Gomes and Portugal face Netherlands

Andre Gomes will be hoping for some minutes when Portugal take on Netherlands in Geneva on Monday. The midfielder was left out of the starting lineup for Portugal’s 2-1 win over Egypt but was given the last half an hour as he replaced Joao Moutinho.

Samuel Umtiti, Ousmane Dembele and Lucas Digne head to Russia

Frace are in Saint Petersburg where they take on World Cup hosts Russia. Didier Deschamps’ team suffered a bit of a surprise defeat to Colombia on Friday as they lost 3-2, having been 2-0 up.

Les Bleus could really do with a win but it’s difficult to predict what team Deschamps will go for. Lucas Digne was forced off with an injury against Colombia but said it wasn’t too serious afterwards. Umtiti wil probably start and Dembele could come off the bench again.

Ter Stegen faces Coutinho and Paulinho

There’s no doubt the standout fixture of this week is the match between Germany and Brazil in Berlin that pits Marc-Andre ter Stegen against Philippe Coutinho and Paulinho.

Barca’s Brazilian pair both scored in the win against Russia and will be hoping to continue their superb international form as two teams who will be favourites to win the World Cup clash.

Will Messi be fit enough to take on Spain?

There’s another enticing clash at the Wanda Metropolitano as Spain host Argentina. There are doubts over whether Lionel Messi will play although according to Jorge Sampaoli’s notebook he will start.

Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba all started Spain’s 1-1 draw with Germany and could feature again. Iniesta was in great form setting up the opening goal for Rodrigo and only played the first half so we might see him for just 45 minutes again.

Rakitic in Dallas to take on Mexico

Ivan Rakitic is out in America with Croatia who were beaten 2-0 by Peru in Miami last week. Many of the team, including Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic and Ivan Perisic, have headed back to Europe but Rakitic remains with the team.

Croatia take on Mexico at the AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, on Tuesday with Rakitic expected to feature before heading back to Barcelona.

Yerry Mina faces Australia in London

Yerry Mina is in London with Colombia where he will face Australia at Fulham’s Craven Cottage. Colombia produced a memorable comeback win to beat France in Paris last week and will be favourites to beat Bert van Marwijk’s Socceroos.

Source: barcablaugranes.com