Pick Your Barcelona Team - Messi, Ibrahimovic Make Squad
Barca’s two big guns have been included in the convoy, but will they play against Inter? Goal.com invites you to pick your starting XI…
Things looked bleak for the reigning European champions and their coach, Pep Guardiola due to a spate of key absences but the Santpedor-born trainer has been given a late reprieve.
The good news for Barca fans is that Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, both of whom were nursing serious injuries and seemingly certain to miss the game, has been included in the squad after Monday’s evening training session, although it remains uncertain whether or not they will play.
Eric Abidal and Yaya Toure, who caught the H1N1 virus, have been left out but the former is expected to rejoin training on Tuesday as soon as his quarantine phase is completed. Rafa Marquez has been cleared of carrying the virus and has thus been summoned. Two players from the B team, Andreu Fontas and Jonathan Dos Santos, have also been included.
Guardiola will have the following 19 men to choose from but he will have to discard one player on matchday.
Goalkeepers: Victor Valdes, Pinto
Defenders: Dani Alves, Pique, Puyol, Fontas, Rafa Marquez, Maxwell
Midfielders: Xavi, Busquets, Keita, Jeffren, Iniesta, Jonathan Dos
Forwards: Messi, Pedro, Ibrahimovic, Bojan, Henry
We ask you to leave your choices in the comments feature below using hyphens to separate positions, working from right to left. For example, here is the side that could line up in a
Valdes – Alves, Puyol, Pique, Maxwell – Keita, Xavi, Busquets – Pedro, Henry, Iniesta
Goal.com
-
Capello remains one of the greats of the game
After tasting success wherever he had gone previously, the coach will look upon his time at Wembley as an incomplete job rather than a complete failure
-
Can Suarez repeat Cantona's grand comeback?
The divisive Uruguayan can look to history when he starts against United on Saturday for the first time since receiving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra
-
Key battles: Manchester United v Liverpool
The former Reds defender believes that the Uruguayan must put controversy to the back of his mind when his team face the champions
-
The importance of Champions League qualification
The Ruhr side's remarkable run in Europe's elite tournament saw their revenue unexpectedly soar last season, but some teams are structured to depend on such results to survive
-
Cartoon: Capello's managerial merry-go-round
Goal.com cartoonist Omar Momani gives us his unique take on the football news of the day ...
