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Barcelona will travel to the Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, to take on Lucien Favre's Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday on the opening day of the new Champions League campaign. The Blaugrana faced defeat at the hands of the reigning champions Liverpool in the semi-finals last season.
It was an eventful summer for the Spanish heavyweights, who welcomed Frenkie de Jong, Antoine Griezmann, Junior Firpo, and Neto. Ernesto Valverde has reinforced his side to a certain extent, but there are still flaws remaining unfixed in this squad.
This inadequacy was brought to light by Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna, who have already made Barca drop points this LaLiga campaign. Currently with two victories out of four in the domestic league, the Blaugrana will be hoping for a change in their fortunes.
The reigning Spanish champions are placed in a group consisting of Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, and Slavia Praha. Despite the challenging group, Barcelona are expected to stay at the top of the pile in the early stages of the Champions League.
Westfalenstadion is one of the toughest places for opponents because of the bustling crowd, which always instils confidence in the home players regardless of the scoreline.
Above and beyond to the spectators, Borussia Dortmund have been rampant in attack, scoring 13 goals from their opening four games in the Bundesliga this season. Barcelona's defenders will need to be on their heels to keep their opponents' forward line quiet.
We take a look at Barcelona's injury news, suspensions, and predicted line up.
Injuries
Lionel Messi was adjudged fit by Barcelona yesterday. Although the Argentinian has been termed fit, he's likely to start the game from the bench. Samuel Umtiti and Ousmane Dembele are the other absentees through injuries.
Suspensions
There are no suspensions for Ernesto Valverde in this game.
Player Form
Barcelona have blown hot and cold during the opening weeks of this new season. The major reason for this is the absence of Lionel Messi, who is yet to feature this season.
Antoine Griezmann has two goals and two assists already, while Luis Suarez came off the bench to devastating effect against Valencia, notching up two goals in the process. The whole squad is yet to click together with consistency, but that could change in the near future.
Likely XI
Barcelona: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie De Jong, Ivan Rakitic, Antoine Griezmann, Carlos Perez, Luis Suarez.
