Given Barcelona’s depth issues at the moment, you could perhaps excuse them for overlooking BATE Borisov a bit in Wednesday’s Champions League match and not putting out a terribly strong side, resting key starters in confidence of getting a result anyways.
Barcelona vs. BATE Borisov: Confirmed lineups
Barcelona are rolling out a strong lineup at home as BATE Borisov come in hoping to steal a result.
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Luis Enrique has elected not to take that risk, with only Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba rested from his usual starters. That’s actually a smart play, because BATE have been a troublesome side to their opponents during this Champions League group stage, beating Roma 3-2 at home and giving Barcelona a much tougher match than expected two weeks ago.
Barcelona eventually won that game 2-0, but not before a few moments of major concern. Enrique remembers those nervy moments, and won’t let his team be caught off guard today.
Barcelona starting XI (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Dani Alves, Thomas Vermaelen, Javier Mascherano, Adriano; Sergio Busquets, Sergi Roberto, Ivan Rakitić; Andres Iniesta, Luis Suárez, Neymar
BATE Borisov starting XI (4-4-2): Syarhey Chernik; Vital Hayduchyk, Nemanja Milunović, Filip Mladenović, Dzyanis Palyakow; Yevgeniy Yablonski, Aleksandr Valadzko, Ihar Stasevich, Maksim Valadzko; Dzmitry Mazalewski, Mikhail Gordeichuk
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