Barcelona beat Liverpool 3-0 in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final last week and now the Catalans travel to Anfield for the second leg.
Barca undoubtedly have the advantage going into the second leg and Liverpool will need a tiny miracle if they wish to beat Valverde’s side this week.
And if somehow the La Liga side can manage to score that crucial away goal then most certainly they will be heading to the Champions League final at the Metropolitano Stadium.
Barcelona news vs Liverpool:
Barcelona are not expected to make too many changes during the second leg and one possible one was that Philippe Coutinho would move back to the bench and Ousmane Dembele would take his place.
But now Valverde has claimed that the Frenchman will miss the trip to Anfield with an injury.
The forward started Barcelona’s La Liga clash vs Celta Vigo but he was taken off pretty early during the match and now the club have confirmed that he might play no further part this season.
This will surely be a huge blow for Barcelona but they do have an apt replacement in the form of Philippe Coutinho who will be itching to perform at the club he left last year.
Apart from this one forced change, the other players should retain their place from the first leg meaning Lenglet and Pique will start in central defence while Busquets and Rakitic will play in midfield.
Arturo Vidal had a wonderful game at Camp Nou last week and he too will be deployed down the right flank while Coutinho operates from the other side of the pitch.
Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi will be the front two for Ernesto Valverde with the Argentine playing as the link between the attack and midfield.
Barcelona news: Predicted XI vs Liverpool
First XI: Stegen, Roberto, Pigue, Lenglet, Alba, Vidal, Rakitic, Busquets, Coutinho, Suarez, Messi.
