The only surprise from Tito Vilanova, if you want to call it that, is Javier Mascherano starting along side Gerard Piqué in the central. If you think about it though, Carles Puyol played 75 minutes against Real Zaragoza this weekend, his first action in over a month and a half. Resting the captain makes sense. The now un-suspended Sergio Busquets will return to his deep midfield role, which will help Barca as they missed his play against Celtic.
Spartak Moscow vs. Barcelona: Lineups
Spartak’s captain and goalkeeper Andriy Dykan makes an unexpected return after missing significant time with an injury. That should help a little for the Russian side, but considering all the other injuries, this will still be a tough match. Emmanuel Emenike was impressive when these two teams met earlier in the group stages and he’ll need to have a big day if Spartak have a chance of staying alive in the group.
Spartak Moscow starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Andriy Dykan; Juan Insurralde, Kirill Kombarov, Marek Suchý, Evgeni Makeev; Rafael Carioca, José Manuel Jurado, Kim Källström, Dmitir Kombarov; Ari, Emmanuel Emenike.
Barcelona starting lineup (4-3-3): Víctor Valdés; Dani Alves, Gerard Piqué, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernández, Andres Iniesta; Cesc Fàbregas, Lional Messi, Pedro Rodríguez.
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