Barcelona have defensive problems heading into Sunday's La Liga contest with Valencia at Mestalla.

Samuel Umtiti (foot), Clement Lenglet (hamstring) and Ronald Araujo (calf) will miss the clash through injury, while Alejandro Balde (ankle) and Sergi Roberto (thigh) are still on the sidelines.

Barcelona will also be missing both Dani Alves and Gerard Pique through suspension, so Oscar Mingueza could start alongside Eric Garcia in the middle of the defence, with Sergino Dest coming in at right-back.

Ansu Fati remains on the sidelines with a hamstring problem, while Memphis Depay is a doubt due to a muscular issue, with head coach Xavi missing a number of first-team players for this match.

There will be changes from the side that started against Napoli in the Europa League, though, with Sergio Busquets set to return to the midfield ahead of Nico Gonzalez.

Gavi is also pushing to be involved in the starting side, with the Spaniard potentially coming into a front three alongside Ferran Torres and Adama Traore.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made his full debut against Napoli but is likely to be back on the bench here, with Nico, as mentioned, also expected to drop out of the starting side.

Barcelona possible starting lineup: Ter Stegen; Dest, Mingueza, E Garcia, Alba; F de Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Traore, Torres, Gavi

Written by
Matt Law