How Barcelona could line up against Athletic Bilbao

Barcelona will have Alejandro Balde and Lamine Yamal available for Sunday's La Liga clash with Athletic Bilbao, but the Catalan side still have a number of first-team absentees.

Balde picked up an adductor issue while representing Spain during the international break, which led to his withdrawal from the squad, but the defender has since trained with his club and is available here.

Yamal was absent for La Roja due to an issue related to his hip, but the 16-year-old is also available this weekend and should start in the final third of the field.

Robert Lewandowski, Pedri and Raphinha are all battling to be fit for the clash with Real Madrid at the end of the month, but the trio remain unavailable for selection for this game.

Sergi Roberto is also out with a calf problem, while Jules Kounde and Frenkie de Jong are on the sidelines with knee and ankle issues respectively.

There had been some doubt over the availability of Ronald Araujo and Ilkay Gundogan due to their international commitments for Uruguay and Germany respectively, but head coach Xavi said during his press conference that both players would be available.

On-loan pair Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo will again be in the starting side, while Oriol Romeu is set to come back into the XI, having started on the bench against Granada last time out.

Andreas Christensen will benefit from Kounde's absence to keep his spot in the middle of the defence, while Gavi is a certain starter in central midfield.

Barcelona possible starting lineup: Ter Stegen; Cancelo, Christensen, Araujo, Balde; Gundogan, Romeu, Gavi; Yamal, F Torres, Felix