With Ivan Rakitic left out, speculation surrounding his future has not been quelled by Barcelona's magnificently vague explanatio - it's for "technical reasons". Admittedly, this is the standard reason that Barca give whenever a player left out is not injured; it does, nonetheless, conjure up images of an apologetic Harry Carpenter explaining why there are no boxing highlights from York Hall.

Three changes too for Villarreal to the team who, like Barca, suffered a midweek Copa del Rey defeat, losing 3-1 at Real Sociedad. Captain Bruno returns in midfield, while Jaume Costa and Victor Ruiz are restored toa  defence that has conceded just 11 goals in La Liga all season.

Villarreal: Asenjo; Mario, Musacchio, Ruiz, Jaume; Trigueros, Bruno, Soriano; dos Santos, Sansone, Pato.

Substitutes: Andres, Alvaro, Rukavina, Rodri, N’Diaye, Santos Borre, Castillejo.

Three changes for Barcelona from the side beaten by Athletic Bilbao on Thursday; Andre Gomes is the man to replace Ivan Rakitic in midfield, while Lucas Digne and Javier Mascherano are in at the back for Jordi Alba and Samuel Umtiti.

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Digne, Mascherano, Pique, Sergi Roberto; Iniesta, Gomes, Busquets; Neymar, Messi, Suarez.

Substitutes: Masip, Alba, Umtiti, D. Suarez, Turan, Rafinha, Alcacer.

There has been a fair degree of intrigue surrounding Luis Enrique's selection for this one; midfielder Ivan Rakitic has been left out of the squad altogether. He was an unused substitute in Barca's final two La Liga matches before the winter break - although he did play in the Copa del Rey on Thursday - and speculation is mounting that the Croatia international could be on his way out of the Nou Camp...

Image source, Reuters

Barcelona finished 2016 on a roll, with four straight wins in league and cup. It hasn't been an entirely straightforward start to 2017, though; a strong Barca side were beaten 2-1 on Thursday in the first leg of their Copa del Rey last-16 tie against Athletic Bilbao - a team who finished the game with nine men after two red cards. There's ground to make up in the return at the Nou Camp this coming Wednesday.

Image source, AP

In the meantime, there's the small matter of trying to break down La Liga's meanest defence this evening.

"I am sure no team will win the rest of this season's games," said Enrique in a press conference yesterday. "There is a long way to go."

He has to keep hoping - even though Real Madrid extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 39 matches yesterday with a 5-0 win over Granada.

Granada were hopeless, mind you. But no matter. The win keeps Real four points ahead of Sevilla at the top, and six clear of Barca, in third.

Image source, AP

It's a fact of life that nothing lasts forever. Well, almost nothing.

Image source, Getty Images

At the moment, that is the hope that Barcelona manager Luis Enrique is clinging to, as he tries to find a way to catch Real Madrid in La Liga's title race.