Barcelona: Setién down to 15 senior players for Real Sociedad
Arthur has joined Sergi Roberto, Luis Suárez and Ousmane Dembélé on the injury list while Umtiti, Lenglet and Jordi Alba are on a suspension.
Quique Setién is playing catch-up again with his Barcelona squad for the visit of Real Sociedad on Saturday (18:30 CET) with only 15 first-team players available to the Camp Nou manager.
Sergi Roberto, Luis Suárez and Ousmane Dembélé were already ruled out and Arthur joined them on the sidelines as a late withdrawal after picking up an ankle injury.
Adding to Setién’s selection issues is the precarious disciplinary situation of Samuel Umtiti, Clément Lenglet and Jordi Alba, with all three defenders a booking away from suspension for the side’s trip to Mallorca next weekend.
Martin Braithwaite is included again to reinforce the front line, while Ansu Fati and Barça B players Alex Collado and Riqui Puig have been called up to make up the numbers.
Barcelona are a point behind Real Madrid as they go up against an in-form Sociedad side who have secured their place in the Copa del Rey final, beating Real Madrid along the way, and at one point held one of the most formidable records in Europe against the Catalan side, going undefeated at Anoeta between 2011 and 2018.
When the teams last met in December with Ernesto Valverde still at the helm, the game ended 2-2.
Barcelona squad vs Real Sociedad
Keepers: Ter Stegen, Neto.
Defenders: Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Lenglet, Alba, Junior.
Midfielders: Busquets, Rakitic, Vidal, De Jong, Puig.
Forwards: Griezmann, Messi, Braithwaite, Fati, Collado.