Lionel Messi should be available for Barcelona this weekend as the Spanish champions look to bounce back from their 1-0 loss to Athletic Bilbao on the opening night of the 2019-20 La Liga campaign.
Messi missed out last week with a calf problem, and his absence proved to be damaging for the Catalan giants as Artiz Aduriz came up with a late winner for the home team.
Barca will be looking to put the defeat behind them at home to Real Betis on Sunday night, with the champions wary of falling behind the likes of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the early stages of the campaign.
That said, Betis actually recorded a 4-3 victory in the corresponding match at Camp Nou last term.
Here, Sports Mole looks at how Ernesto Valverde's side could line up for their second league match of the new campaign.
Out: Luis Suarez (calf), Ousmane Dembele (hamstring), Neto (hand)
Luis Suarez picked up a calf problem during the defeat at Bilbao last weekend, while Dembele is facing five weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring issue, leaving Valverde short in the final third of the field.
That said, aside from those two and second-choice goalkeeper Neto, Barca have a strong squad available.
As mentioned, Messi is expected to return to the XI having trained earlier this week. The Argentine will line up alongside Antoine Griezmann in the final third, with Rafinha also potentially given the nod in attack.
Further back, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic could both come into the team having started on the bench against Bilbao, with Frenkie de Jong also featuring in the middle of the park.
Perhaps the only other major selection decision will come at right-back where Valverde must choose between Nelson Semedo and Sergi Roberto, with the former just being tipped to get the nod.
Matt Law
