Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi lead Barcelona squad for Las Palmas with Jordi Alba and Semedo out

Luis Suarez has been included in Ernesto Valverde's 18-man squad for Barcelona's trip to Las Palmas on Thursday (1 March) even though the Uruguay international will miss the crucial weekend's clash with La Liga second-place Atletico Madrid if he is booked against the Canary Islanders.

Jordi Alba and Nelson Semedo are unavailable due to suspension and injury respectively while Denis Suarez and Yerry Mina have also been left at home once again due to technical reasons.

Paco Alcacer and Andre Gomes return to Valverde's squad to fill the gaps left by Alba and Semedo after the Barcelona duo missed the 6-1 victory over Girona.

Suarez scored a hat-trick during the Catalan derby and in the final minutes of the game appeared to deliberately try to pick up a yellow card in order to arrive at the coming clash with Atletico with a clean slate.

However, the referee decided to ignore his attempts and Suarez therefore remains only one game away from suspension.

There were suggestions that Valverde might rest his striker in order to avoid that risk but the Barcelona boss has decided to include him in his 18-man squad alongside Lionel Messi and co.

Alba also headed to derby against Girona one book away from suspension but the Barcelona left- back did pick up a booking during the game and is unavailable for the trip to Las Palmas.

Meanwhile, Semedo is set to miss both games with Las Palmas and Atletico after being forced off against Girona with a hamstring injury which is expected to keep him on the sidelines for around five weeks.

Lucas Digne and Sergi Roberto are tipped to cover the full-back positions against Las Palmas with the versatile Aleix Vidal also ready to step up in case of emergency.

Meanwhile, it is uncertain whether Valverde will also rotate other areas in order to have his key players fresh for a clash with Atletico which could be decisive in the La Liga title race, with Los Colchoneros currently trailing Barcelona by only seven points.

Valverde has lamented that Atletico will have one day extra to prepare the game with Simeone's side facing Leganes on Wednesday [28 February] night.

"This week the schedule is against us. There are a lot of questions and reasons why schedules are the way they are and sometimes the sporting side of things is not considered as much. This time it's us who have the long journey and who play a day later than Atletico. It's not Atletico's fault -- and it could have been the reverse," the Barcelona boss said in the press conference as quoted by Sport.

"They sometimes have to play in Europe on Thursday and then in the league on Sunday but we're talking about La Liga here, not two different competitions. Considering the importance of Sunday's game, [La Liga]) should have had it in mind."