Dest and Dembélé back in squad against Benfica

American full back and French striker declared fit and ready to play in the massive Champions League encounter

10:52AM Tuesday 23 Nov (GMT)

First Team

23 Nov 21

Following a final workout at the Ciutat Esportiva on Tuesday morning, Xavi Hernández has named the 22 players for his first Champions League game as FC Barcelona manager: Ter Stegen, Dest, Piqué, R. Araujo, Sergio, Riqui Puig, O. Dembélé, Memphis, Demir, Neto, Coutinho, Lenglet, L. De Jong, Jordi Alba, F. De Jong, O. Mingueza, Umtiti, Eric, Iñaki Peña, Nico, Gavi and Balde.

Missing through injury are Ansu Fati, Martin Braithwaite, Pedri, Kun Agüero and the latest addition to the casualty list Sergi Roberto.

That means the return of two big names for the crunch match against Benfica (9.00pm CET) at Camp Nou. Both Sergiño Dest and Ousmane Dembélé have been declared fully fit and available for selection.

Note that Ilias Akhomach is serving a suspension after being sent off against Dynamo Kyiv in the UEFA Youth League and Ez Abde is unavailable due to not being registered for the competition.

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