How Barcelona could line up vs Granada: Three changes from Valverde, major fitness boost

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Barcelona face Granada on Saturday night hoping to secure all three points to climb the La Liga table and close the gap on leaders Sevilla.

The Catalan giants were held to a draw by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League in midweek, and there was also mixed news on the injury front after that outing.

SEE MORE: Video: Dortmund fans put on incredible display ahead of Barcelona clash

Not only did Lionel Messi make his comeback in that encounter, but as per Sport, Barca’s talisman trained with the rest of the squad as normal on Thursday and so he will surely be in contention to now start after overcoming a troublesome calf injury which had sidelined him.

Meanwhile, Mundo Deportivo note that Junior Firpo will have to come in for the injured Jordi Alba, while there could be a change in midfield with Sergio Busquets singled out as a possible candidate to be rested having started every game so far this season.

In turn, there could be at least three changes made to the starting line up for a clash that Barcelona will be highly fancied to win, especially if Messi is given the green light to start.

The 32-year-old will undoubtedly now be keen to get minutes under his belt if he has made a full recovery from that injury, and Granada could be an ideal opportunity for him to get back up to the speed of La Liga football.

Barcelona did secure a convincing 5-2 win over Valencia last time out, and so they’ll hope to build on that while they’ll finally be able to see the attacking trident of Messi, Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann in full this weekend, provided Valverde gives his superstar the nod to start.

Possible Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Firpo; Arthur, Rakitic, De Jong; Messi, Suarez, Griezmann.

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