Barcelona take on Sporting Gijon in the La Liga on Wednesday 1 March knowing that they will move into first place with a victory.

Barca boss Luis Enrique has been given a boost with the return of defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano who missed the last four games with injury.

Mascherano will slot back into his centre-back role alongside Umtiti.

It was however, not all good news for Enrique as Arda Turan who was also tipped to return for the Sporting clash has been left out the squad again after failing to recover in time.

Turan has also missed Barca’s last four games. The absence of the Turkish international attacking midfielder means that Enrique has had to start with the MSN again – Messi, Suarez and Neymar.

Aleix Vidal and Jeremy Mathieu have also been ruled out due to injury.

Enrique has opted to start with Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Rafinha in midfield.

Barcelona v Sporting: Confirmed Line-ups

Barcelona confirmed line-ups: 1.Ter Stegen, 4.Rakitic, 5.Sergio, 6.Denis, 9.Suárez, 10.Messi, 11.Neymar, 12.Rafinha, 14.Mascherano, 18.Jordi Alba, 23.Umtiti

Subs: 13. Cillessen, 3. Piqué, 8. Iniesta, 17. Paco Alcácer, 19. Digne, 20. Sergi Roberto, 21. André Gomes

Sporting Dijon confirmed line-ups: Cuellar, Alvarez, Babin, Burgui, Cases, Castellano, Castro, Elderson, Pereira, Rodriguez, Torres

Subs: Cop, Blanco, Lora, Marino, Rodriguez, Traore, Vesga