Xavi made changes to his starting XI, as expected, although there were still a few surprises. Alejandro Balde got the nod over Jordi Alba at left-back but Miralem Pjanic did not come into the team, as had been rumoured, and was on the bench. In attack, fit-again Ferran Torres started ahead of Raphinha.
Interestingly, this was the first time in a very long while that none of the captains started a match for Barcelona. Sergio Busquets was banned for his red card last week, while Alba, Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto were only deemed good enough for the bench.