![[Confirmed lineup] Arsenal v Barcelona – Özil & Alexis start, strong bench named](https://www.allarsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/Mesut-Özil-Bournemouth.jpg)
The teams have been announced for our massive Champions League clash with Barcelona, and it’s an incredibly strong lineup.
Few are giving us much of a chance against the La Liga giants, but Arsene Wenger is clearly doing everything he can to get the win.
Petr Cech predictably starts in goal, with David Ospina back on the bench after the FA Cup. It’s a standard back line of Hector Bellerin, Nacho Monreal, Per Mertesacker, and Laurent Koscielny, as the Spanish duo return from their rest over the weekend.
Mathieu Flamini and Mohamed Elneny are out, with Francis Coquelin getting a start. The young Frenchman is likely to prove key this evening, so it’s great to see him starting ahead of the unreliable Flamini and the relatively untested January signing.
He’s joined by Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Özil in midfield, both of whom were omitted from the squad completely against Hull. They should be fully fit and ready to go, with the pair likely to prove key this evening.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain starts on the right, despite his poor cameo performance against the Tigers. Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott will have been fighting for a spot, but with both playing bigger roles over the weekend they are more likely to be used as a substitute.
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Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud take the remaining places, with the attacking duo likely to be our main goal threat.
The likes of Flamini, Walcott, Welbeck, and Joel Campbell are on the bench, so we’ve certainly got options as the game goes on.
The wait is over… Here is your starting XI for #AFCvFCB pic.twitter.com/H1aj0MZSGs
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) February 23, 2016
The Barcelona team is as follows:
#FCB XI
1. Ter Stegen
3. Piqué
4. Rakitic
5. Sergio
6. Alves
8. Iniesta
9. Suárez
10. Messi
11. Neymar
14. Mascherano
18. Alba#FCBlive— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 23, 2016
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It’s a scary team whatever way you look at it, and we certainly have a tough challenge ahead of us. They aren’t invincible though, so we just need to give it everything and see what happens.
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