Ousmane Dembele has returned to Barcelona’s matchday squad for the first time in a month but Ivan Rakitic has missed out.
Ernesto Valverde announced his 18-man squad to take on Villarreal on Tuesday night in La Liga and Dembele’s return will come as a big boost to the under-fire Barcelona boss.
The Frenchman trained with his Barcelona team-mates last Thursday after picking up a hamstring injury on the opening day of the season but Valverde wasn’t keen to rush him back.
Croatian midfielder Rakitic is Barcelona’s most notable absentee – he is fit but hasn’t been included in the matchday squad, with Carles Alena among those picked ahead of him.
Barcelona have endured their worst start to a La Liga season in 25 years, having fallen to a 2-0 defeat at Granada on the weekend.
The Spanish giants sit all the way down in eighth, picking up just seven points from their opening five matches.
Samson Oyedeyi
