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Attendance: 62,369
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La Liga
Jan 28, 2018 at 7.45pm UK
 
Alaves logo

2-1

Suarez (72'), Messi (84')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Guidetti (23')

Team News: Philippe Coutinho makes first Barcelona start against Alaves

Philippe Coutinho makes his first start for Barcelona in Sunday's La Liga meeting with Alaves at Camp Nou.

Philippe Coutinho has been handed his first start for Barcelona in Sunday's La Liga meeting with Alaves at Camp Nou.

The January signing from Liverpool made his Blaugrana debut as a substitute in the midweek 2-0 win over Espanyol in the Copa del Rey.

Ernesto Valverde has now opted to draft Coutinho into the starting XI alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez for the Brazilian's first Barca appearance in the Spanish top flight, which sees the Catalans up against the struggling Basques.

Lucas Digne is picked at left-back as Jordi Alba starts on the bench, while Ivan Rakitic is selected ahead of Sergio Busquets in central midfield and Ruben Semedo is given the nod over Sergi Roberto at right-back.

Alaves, meanwhile, have placed Barca loanee Munir El Haddadi on the bench, with Celta Vigo man John Guidetti tasked by head coach Abelardo Fernandez to lead the line.

Defender Rodrigo Ely is currently suspended, giving Guillermo Maripan the chance to start at centre-back, while there is also a spot in the XI for midfielder Mubarak Wakaso.

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Umtiti, Digne; Rakitic, Iniesta, Paulinho; Messi, Suarez, Coutinho
Subs: Cillessen, Sergio, Alcacer, Alba, Roberto, Vidal, Mina

Alaves: Pacheco; Duarte, Laguardia, Maripan, Ruano; Mubarak, Medran, Pedraza, Gomez; Sobrino, Guidetti
Subs: Sivera, Martin, Vigaray, Pedraza, Munir, Dieguez, Demirovic

Follow all the action from Camp Nou with Sports Mole's live match commentary.

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Ernesto Valverde pictured in 2016
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1Atletico MadridAtletico19135134122244
2Real Madrid19134243192443
3Barcelona19122551222938
4Athletic Bilbao19106329171236
5Villarreal198653431330
6Mallorca199371921-230
7Real Sociedad198471713428
8GironaGirona198472725228
9Rayo Vallecano196762222025
10Real BetisBetis196762123-225
11Osasuna196762328-525
12Celta Vigo197392830-224
13Sevilla196582128-723
14Las PalmasLas Palmas196492429-522
15Getafe194781316-319
16Leganes194781829-1119
17AlavesAlaves1945102131-1017
18Espanyol1944111731-1416
19Real ValladolidValladolid1943121337-2415
20Valencia1927101829-1113


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