Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid team news: MSN lead 18-man squad with six absentees

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique will be able to field his gala XI for the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Atletico Madrid tonight (5 April), with the boss announcing an 18-man squad with no major absentees. Third goalkeeper Jordi Masip and out-of-favour right-back Douglas Pereira miss the game for technical reasons, alongside the injured Sandro Ramirez, Adriano, Aleix Vidal and Jeremy Mathieu.

Barcelona are thus expected to deploy a similar line-up to the one that suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid at the weekend, with the MSN trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar leading the attack in front of Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets. Marc-Andre ter Stegen, as usual, will replace Claudio Bravo between the sticks, as the Germany international is the boss's preferred number one for the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba are also expected to have a place in the back-line, with the biggest question being whether the Barcelona manager opts to stick with Dani Alves at right-back or take a punt on the versatile Sergi Roberto.

Sandro, Adriano and Mathieu missed El Clasico due with injuries, while Vidal joined them on the treatment table earlier this week after suffering a minor muscle problem in training.

Barcelona arrive to the Champions League quarter-final having been shaken by Real Madrid ending their unbeaten run of 39 games. Luis Enrique is hoping his side respond to that disappointment with a victory here, allowing them to travel to the Vicente Calderon for the second leg in a dominant position.

The current Champions League title holders have beaten Atletico Madrid in all six games they've played against each other since the arrival of Luis Enrique in 2014. However, Los Colchoneros knocked Barcelona out at the same stage of this competition two years ago when Argentine Gerardo Martino was still in charge.

Diego Simeone has key centre-back Diego Godin back for the game, and his side travel to the Nou Camp full of confidence following a 5-1 victory over Real Betis in La Liga that closes the gap with the Catalans in the table to six points.