18 players named to face Real Sociedad

Luis Enrique has named his 18 players for the game with Real Sociedad later today at 6.00pm CET. He has decided to leave out Masip, Montoya, Douglas and Rakitic, as well as the injured Mathieu, who is still having trouble with his right Achilles tendon.

The complete squad is thus as follows: Ter Stegen, Bravo, Dani Alves, Adriano, Alba, Piqué, Bartra, Mascherano, Vermaelen, Sergio, Xavi, Iniesta, Sergi Roberto, Rafinha, Pedro, Neymar Jr, Suárez and Messi. This is therefore the first time that Thomas Vermaelen has been called up a Liga match, after also featuring in the midweek squad against Bayern Munich.