Barcelona will be boosted by the return of Gerard Pique to the heart of the defence when they travel to face second-placed Sevilla on Tuesday night.
Pique was serving a one-match ban for an accumulation of yellow cards, but Xavi’s men didn’t end up missing him too much as they edged past Elche for a 3-2 win.
It might be a different story for the Blaugrana this week, though, as they travel to face a Sevilla side that can move to within three points of Real Madrid atop La Liga.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen will start in goal, and Pique will likely be joined in the back three by Clement Lenglet and Eric Garcia.
Both Sergino Dest and Sergi Roberto are out so Ronaldo Araujo is likely to deputise at right wing-back, with Jordi Alba on the other side.
Frenkie de Jong could partner Gavi in midfield as Pedri remains a long-term absentee having not played since September after his ridiculous amount of games from last season.
Ousmane Dembele has enjoyed a relatively prolonged run of games since November and could play again, while youngster Ferran Jutgla could get another chance up front after scoring against Elche in what was his first ever La Liga start. Nico Gonzalez could complete the front three, having scored the winner in that game in the 85th minute.
Barcelona starting XI versus Sevilla
