Barca without trio for Espanyol

Barcelona will again be without Thomas Vermaelen, Andre Gomes and Ousmane Dembele for Sunday’s trip to nearby Eapanyol.

Vermaelen is not quite ready to come back from a hamstring injury, while Gomes has been given the weekend off to recover from illness.

Dembele trained on Saturday, but Barca’s official website notes the winger has yet to receive medical clearance for his return.

Espanyol, on the other hand, could hand a debut to Carlos Sanchez after the Colombia midfielder was called up, just four days after his arrival from Fiorentina.

However, left-back Didac Vila and attacking midfielder Pablo Piatti miss out through injury.

Los Periquitos beat Barca 1-0 in their Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg on January 17, but the Blaugrana overturned the deficit a week later to reach the last four.

Espanyol squad: Pau, Diego Lopez, Frias; Marc Navarro, Aaron, Víctor Sanchez, Naldo, Oscar Duarte, Gerard, Carlos Sanchez, Sergio Garcia, Jurado, Baptistao, Melendo, David Lopez, Javi Lopez, Hermoso, Granero, Darder

Barca squad: Ter Stegen, Cillessen; Semedo, Pique, Rakitic, Busquets, Denis, Iniesta, Suarez, Messi, Coutinho, Paulinho, Alcacer, Alba, Digne, Sergi Roberto, Vidal, Umtiti, Yerry Mina

Tags Andre Gomes Ousmane Dembele Thomas Vermaelen
La Liga - Club News