At one stage, it appeared that Lionel Messi could make his first appearance of pre-season in Barcelona's Joan Gamper Trophy contest with Juventus on Sunday night.

However, news of Messi's departure has shocked the world of football, and the Catalan giants will now have to get used to life after the Argentine, who could join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.

Barcelona must focus on matters on the field, though, as they will play their final pre-season fixture against Juventus on Sunday ahead of their La Liga opener against Real Sociedad, and head coach Ronald Koeman will still be able to send a strong XI onto the field for this contest.

Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong and Antoine Griezmann are all in line to start, while Martin Braithwaite could also feature in attack.

New signing Memphis Depay played the full 90 minutes of the 2-1 defeat to Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday but is still expected to feature from the first whistle against Juventus.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen's absence through injury means that Neto will continue between the sticks, while Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembele will also miss the contest.

Rey Manaj and Yusuf Demir have both been heavily involved for Koeman's side during pre-season and will be hoping to receive more minutes against the Italian giants.

Barcelona possible starting lineup: Neto; Dest, Araujo, Pique, Alba; De Jong, Busquets, Roberto; Griezmann, Braithwaite, Memphis

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