Barcelona host Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night, and they’ve picked as strong a squad as possible.
The Catalan giants wrapped up the La Liga title at the weekend, while they still have the Copa del Rey final to look forward to next month.
SEE MORE: Confirmed Liverpool squad for Barcelona: Key duo make it in to hand big boost to Jurgen Klopp
In turn, the treble is still on for Ernesto Valverde’s men, as they’ll hope to get past Liverpool and advance to the final of the Champions League.
As seen in the club’s tweet below, they have gone with the strongest squad possible with all their key stalwarts included.
That in turn promises to set up an enthralling encounter with Jurgen Klopp’s title-chasers, and so it remains to be seen who prevails with both teams almost at full strength.
Naturally, Messi will be the biggest threat for the hosts as the Argentine icon has bagged a staggering 46 goals and 22 assists in 45 appearances so far this season.
However, equally as important for Barcelona will be how they nullify Liverpool’s threat, with the attacking trident of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino likely to cause plenty of problems.
Firmino has been struggling with a muscle injury this past week, but the Brazilian international is expected to recover in time, as per BBC Sport, although a late decision will be made.
For Barcelona though, they will have to put their title celebrations behind them and re-focus on the task in hand, as Valverde will have decisions to make in certain areas given the strength in depth that he possesses.
From the centre-half options with Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Clement Lenglet battling for a starting berth to Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho looking to support the likes of Messi and Luis Suarez, it will be interesting to see who gets the nod in the starting XI.
? [SQUAD LIST]
? #BarçaLFC
? 01/05/19 – 9.00pm CEST pic.twitter.com/rllvXRgiUz— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 30, 2019
