Sergio Busquets will start for Barcelona against Valencia on Saturday, but will need a painkilling injection in order to do so, AS understands.
Rakitic and Digne out
The midfielder trained on Friday and was named in the Barça squad for the match at Camp Nou. His return is timely for Ernesto Valverde as Ivan Rakitic is unavailable after undergoing surgery on a finger injury. Lucas Digne returned to training this week after a three-week absence with a thigh complaint, but the Valencia match comes too soon for him.
Yerry Mina and Aleix Vidal are fit but have been left out of the squad.
⚽ #BarçaValencia 🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/49ujWwb2ZN
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) 13 April 2018
It remains to be seen if Ernesto Valverde will field the players - like Umtiti and Semedo - who were particularly poor in Barcelona's Champions League defeat to Roma.
"They play with a straightforward 4-4-2 which is easily recognisable and it's serving them well," Valverde said of Valencia in his pre-match news conference. Barça's team selection is not quite so straightforward. The LaLiga leaders could line up in a 4-4-2 formation, but a 4-3-3 with Coutinho joining Suárez and Messi in attack is also a possibility.
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