Barcelona will be back in action in the Primera Division on Wednesday night as they take on to struggling Sporting Gijon at Camp Nou.
Luis Enrique‘s side secured a hard-fought 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Sunday and remain just one point behind Real Madrid at the top of the table after Los Blancos came behind to beat Villarreal 3-2 later the same night.
Zinedine Zidane’s side still have a game in hand, but Barca can move provisionally back to the top on Wednesday with a win against Sporting, with Real in action straight afterwards at home to Las Palmas.
Aleix Vidal is sidelined for the remainder of the season after suffering a horrific ankle injury in the recent win at Alaves and Barcelona are considering signing a replacement for the former Sevilla player.
Javier Mascherano and Arda Turan are available again after injury and could both feature against Sporting.
Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has a full-strength squad to choose from with the exception of long-term absentee Vidal and the Catalan club have no players missing through suspension on Wednesday.
However, Gerard Pique is just one yellow card away from picking up a one-match ban.
Barcelona boss Luis Enrique is set to revert to the club’s habitual 4-3-3 formation after using 3-4-3 in the 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
Jordi Alba is in line to return to the team at left-back, with Sergi Roberto on the right after starting in midfield at the Vicente Calderon, while Andre Gomes and Ivan Rakitic could both feature from the outset after they were left out at the weekend.
Luis Enrique will be keen to continue rotating his pack for what will be his team’s third game in the space of 10 days, but Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar are all likely to start in the Camp Nou clash.
Javier Mascherano and Arda Turan are available again, but not ready to play the 90 minutes and are set to start on the bench.
Sporting Gijon are down in 18th place in La Liga, with just 17 points and two adrift of 17th-placed Deportivo La Coruna with 14 games left.
The Asturian side, where Luis Enrique started his career, have already parted company with coach Abelardo and are now fighting to stay up under Rubi – who previously had a spell at Barca where he worked with Tito Vilanova and later Gerardo Martino.
Jorge Mere is suspended after he was sent off in the 1-1 draw at home to Celta Vigo at the weekend, but Rubi has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the trip to Camp Nou.
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