Line-ups: Espanyol-Barca

Rafinha is a surprise starter for Barcelona this afternoon as La Liga’s pace-setters prepare to do battle with Espanyol in the Derbi Barceloni.

Other than the usual switch of Claudio Bravo returning in goal following the Champions League on Tuesday, the Brazilian youngster is preferred to Ivan Rakitic in central midfield at Cornella-El Prat.

The hosts, meanwhile, have made their intentions clear prior to kick-off, with a 4-4-2 formation being adopted against their arch-rivals, rather than the 4-2-3-1 used against Levante last week.

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Espanyol: Casilla; Arbilla, Alvaro, Moreno, Duarte; Lucas, Canas, Abraham, Alvarez; Garcia, Caicedo

Subs: Pau, Javi Lopez, Colotto, Fuentes, Sevilla, Montanes, Stuani

Barcelona: Bravo; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Busquets, Iniesta, Rafinha; Messi, Suarez, Neymar

Subs: Ter Stegen, Mathieu, Adriano, Rakitic, Sergi Roberto, Xavi, Pedro

Referee: Mateu Lahoz

La Liga - Club News