These are Xavi's three surprises for the game between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao

Barcelona will play this Sunday the first of the three key matches they have this week. At the Estadio Olimpico Lluis Companys in Montjuic they will face Athletic Bilbao. Three days later, on Wednesday, they will play against Shakhtar Donetsk for the third match of Champions League Group H. And next Saturday, October 28, they will face Real Madrid in the first 'Clasico' of the 2023/24 season.

Beyond the importance of the upcoming matches, Xavi Hernandez knows that they have to take one step at a time. The first objective will be to get a win against Athletic Bilbao, which would be important to get closer to the top of the La Liga standings. Leaders Real Madrid drew 1-1 against Sevilla on Saturday and Barcelona want to take advantage of that.

The coach called up all the players who are fit to play. The good news is the return of Alejandro Balde and Lamine Yamal, who had physical problems and were ruled out of the Spanish national team during the international break. But the other injured players are not yet ready to play: Sergi Roberto, Pedri, Jules Koundé, Frenkie De Jong, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski.

With this scenario, Xavi Hernandez made an unexpected decision and called up three players from Barça Athletic, the reserve team that competes in Spain's third division. They are right-back Hector Fort, winger Unai Hernandez and forward Marc Guiu.

This is the complete list

The 19 Barcelona players called up by Xavi for this Sunday's match against Athletic Bilbao are: goalkeepers Marc-André Ter Stegen, Iñaki Peña and Ander Astralaga; defenders Joao Cancelo, Alejandro Balde, Ronald Araujo, Iñigo Martinez, Andreas Christensen, Marcos Alonso and Hector Fort; midfielders Gavi, Oriol Romeu, Ilkay Gundogan and Fermin Lopez; and forwards Joao Felix, Ferrán Torres, Lamine Yamal, Unai Hernández and Marc Guiu.