Official: Barcelona squad list to face Ferencvaros is out — Messi, ter Stegen, Coutinho rested

FC Barcelona have announced the squad list for the game against Ferencvaros in gameweek five of the UEFA Champions League. The Blaugranas will host the Hungarian outfit on the back of back-to-back dominant performances, where they scored a total of eight unanswered goals against Dynamo Kyiv and Osasuna respectively.

Right off the bat, there is no #1 in the squad list, which means that Marc-Andre ter Stegen has been rested for this fixture, with Ronald Koeman prioritising the league. Arnau Tenas has been called up in his absence. Philippe Coutinho has not been included, either.

The full squad: Neto, Inaki Pena, Tenas; Dest, Lenglet, Mingueza, Alba, Firpo; Matheus, Aleña, Pedri, Pjanic, Puig, Busquets, de Jong; Griezmann, Trincão, Dembele, Braithwaite, Konrad

Absentees: Pique, Araujo, Sergi Roberto, Ansu Fati, Samuel Umtiti, Messi, Coutinho, ter Stegen

However, the biggest absence here is that of Lionel Messi. The club captain was left out of the team that took on Dynamo Kyiv last week in the Champions League, and has not made the cut for this game, either. The Catalan giants are in a comfortable position in the UCL, with a 100% winning record, and can afford to rest Messi.

Clement Lenglet makes the cut despite being hobbled off against Osasuna, which comes as a huge surprise for all Barcelona fans. Ronald Araujo, Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto, Samuel Umtiti and Ansu Fati are all injured, with their recovery time largely different.

Matheus Fernandes finds himself on the list once again, after being given his Barcelona debut against Kyiv, for 17 minutes. The absence of Messi also means that Konrad de la Fuente makes the cut for the squad list as well.

The pressure to lead the creative charge for the team, in the absence of Lionel Messi will fall upon the shoulders of Antoine Griezmann, who has scored four goals and given two assists in the last six games. Alternatively, it is also the perfect game for Ronald Koeman do deploy a different formation in an attempt to fit the likes of Aleña and Riqui Puig.