Barcelona have confirmed that they will be without Sergio Busquets and Ousmane Dembele for the first leg of their Europa League play-off with Manchester United on Thursday.
United head to Catalonia for the huge fixture buoyed by the news that Barca will be without two key players for them this season, with both still sidelined by recent injuries.
Busquets picked up an ankle injury against Sevilla on February 5 and although he's only expected to be out for a few weeks, he hasn't recovered in time to be included in Xavi's squad for the Nou Camp fixture.
READ MORE: Four players missing from United training squad
Dembele sustained a hamstring injury against Girona on January 28 and he is expected to be out until mid-March, so will miss both legs against United. Busquets could yet return for the second leg at Old Trafford next Thursday.
His role at the base of the Barcelona midfield went to Frenkie De Jong for the 1-0 win against Villarreal at the weekend. The Dutch midfielder was a transfer target for United last summer, but he stayed at the Nou Camp and has been in good form recently.
United will confirm their squad for the fixture on Wednesday afternoon, but none of Scott McTominay, Antony or Anthony Martial are expected to be involved, having missed training on Wednesday morning. That trio have all been absent for recent games.
Lisandro Martinez did train at Carrington but he is suspended for the Nou Camp fixture, as is Marcel Sabitzer, who wasn't included in the training squad.
Barcelona squad: Ter Stegen, Araujo, Pedri, Lewandowski, Ansu Fati, Torres, Christensen, Alonso, Alba, Kessie, Roberto, De Jong, Raphinha, Kounde, Garcia, Pena, Balde, Casado, Gavi, Torre, Tenas, Alarcon
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