How Barcelona could line up against Royal Antwerp

Barcelona head coach Xavi will be without five players for Wednesday's Champions League Group H affair with Royal Antwerp at the Bosuilstadion.

Needing just one point to guarantee a first-placed finish in the section, the Blaugrana will definitely be without all of Gavi (ACL), Inigo Martinez (hamstring) and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who has now gone under the knife to treat a back injury.

Marcos Alonso went down with a similar problem before the weekend's 4-2 La Liga loss to Girona, and Barcelona have not given a timeframe on the left-back's recovery, while Frenkie de Jong is absent due to illness.

With Ter Stegen sidelined for a couple of months, Inaki Pena continues in between the sticks, likely with Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen in front of him given that Ronald Araujo is one booking away from a ban.

Araujo's potential demotion would open up a spot for Alejandro Balde to return to the fold at left-back, in turn pushing the versatile Joao Cancelo over to the right-hand side of the backline, although Sergi Roberto is another candidate in that area of the field.

With De Jong recovering at home, Fermin Lopez might be considered for promotion to the starting XI in the Dutchman's place this week, and the same can be said for Oriol Romeu over Pedri.

Joao Felix is also treading a tightrope and will miss the first leg of Barca's last-16 tie if he is cautioned on Wednesday, so Lamine Yamal is in line to support Robert Lewandowski, while Ferran Torres could threaten Raphinha's spot too.

Barcelona possible starting lineup: Pena; Cancelo, Kounde, Christensen, Balde; Lopez, Romeu, Gundogan; Yamal, Lewandowski, Torres