Barcelona face a tough away fixture against Manchester City tomorrow and the Catalans will look to inflict more damage on City and former manager Pep Guardiola. Barcelona won the last encounter between the two sides 4-0 courtesy a Lionel Messi hat-trick and another goal by Neymar.
Pique and Alba miss out
The Spanish champions have had a lot of injury concerns over the last couple of weeks as the trio of Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique and Arda Turan were all ruled out of action for the Catalans. In the squad released by Luis Enrique for their clash against Manchester City tomorrow, Jordi Alba and Gerrard Pique have been left out.
In the game against Manchester City at Camp Nou, Alba was the first one to be subbed off as he pulled his hamstring while chasing City's winger Raheem Sterling and suggested to the dugout to replace him immediately. He was replaced by Lucas Digne while Gerard Pique suffered an ankle injury because of a crunching tackle from David Silva for which the Spaniard was booked in the first half.
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The club released an official statement after the game against City which read, "Tests conducted this morning have confirmed that Pique has a sprained ankle and will be out for around three weeks." For Alba it read, "Tests realized this morning have confirmed that Alba has a hamstring strain. He will be out for approximately two weeks."
Arda Turan returns
Good news for the club is that Arda Turan returns to the first team squad after he recovered from a rash tackle he received in the Super Cup. The duo of Andres Iniesta and Jeremy Mathieu are still out with injuries while Aleix Vidal is yet to recover from his adductor problems. Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique missed Barcelona's league victories over Valencia and Granada and also the win over Espanyol in the Super Cup.
Barcelona included three youngsters in their match against Granada namely Marlon, Nili and Alena who maintained their place in the squad to face Manchester City.
The Catalans continued to put pressure on league leaders Real Madrid as the gap between the two is now just two points in La Liga. Manchester City, on the other hand, returned to winning ways as they demolished West Brom 4-0 thanks to braces from Sergio Aguero and Ilkay Gundogan.
Barcelona squad to face Manchester City: Ter Stegen, Cillessen, Masip, Rakitic, Busquets, Denis Suárez, Turan, Luis Suárez, Messi, Neymar, Rafinha, Mascherano, Alcácer, Digne, Roberto, Gomes, Umtiti, Aleñá, Nili and Marlon.
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