Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez among seven Barcelona stars rested for Copa del Rey trip to Murcia

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Marc Andre ter Stegen, Samuel Umtiti and Paulinho will be rested by Ernesto Valverde for the upcoming trip to Murcia on Tuesday night (24 October) with the Barcelona boss set to make wholesale changes in the first-leg of the Copa del Rey last-32.

Barcelona have won the Copa del Rey in the last three seasons and will begin the defence of the title with a visit to Murcia, who are 16<sup>th in the Second Division B – the third tier of Spanish football.

Messi, Suarez, Iniesta, Busquets, ter Stegen and Umtiti were all named in Valverde's starting line-up on Saturday as Barcelona secured a 2-0 victory over Malaga to remain at the top of La Liga table, four points ahead of Valencia and five above Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, Paulinho also came on in the 76<sup>th minute of the game to replace Busquets.

However, neither of them will be available to face Murcia on Tuesday after Valverde opted to give them two days off to ensure they are fresh for the La Liga trip to Athletic Bilbao next weekend.

Seven players from the reserves were promoted to first team training session on Sunday with the Barcelona boss expected to give some of them a chance to prove their worth at Murcia.

"The blaugranas completed a recovery session following their latest La Liga victory against Málaga (2-0). They trained on pitch three at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper. Ernesto Valverde's first team players were joined by seven Barça B players: Arnaiz, Aleñá, Cucurella, Oriol Busquets, Vitinho, Carles Pérez and Ortolá," Barcelona informed in the club website.

"Ter Stegen, Sergio, Iniesta, Suárez, Messi, Paulinho and Umtiti will not train on Monday and they will rejoin the group for Wednesday's training session at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper."

Meanwhile, Mundo Deportivo and Sport report that Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal could also miss the trip to Murcia due to injuries as the duo didn't appear in the video released by the club during Sunday's workout.

The news represents a selection setback for the Barcelona boss as the Turkish international and the former Sevilla wing-back were expected to start against Murcia alongside other fringe players.

Meanwhile, Jordi Alba has missed the last two games due to injury and could also remain on the sidelines alongside long-term injury duo Ousmane Dembele and Rafinha Alcantara when Barcelona start the defence of the Copa del Rey at the Nueva Condimina Stadium.