Team news: Celtic v Barcelona

Fresh from their draw against Astana, Celtic face familiar opposition in European giants Barcelona in the International Champions Cup tomorrow (Saturday).

Barcelona have only just started their pre-season campaign, and will travel to Dublin aiming to pick up a win in their first friendly and their ICC opener.

Celtic who have already played an ICC match against Leicester City, will aim to build upon previous performances and avoid picking up any injuries ahead of return leg against Astana.

The last time the two sides met, Barcelona romped to a 6-1 win at the Nou Camp, when Neil Lennon’s side had already been eliminated from the Champions League in the 2013/14 season.

Of course the season before, who could ever forget the stunning 2-1 win over Catalan side, which was celebrated a day after Celtic’s 125th anniversary.

Celtic

Kolo Toure has remained in Glasgow to work on his fitness along with Erik Sviatchenko who is recovering from a groin injury.

Mikael Lustig and Stefan Johansen haven’t made the trip to Dublin, the latter was omitted from the squad in midweek for personal reasons, which we now know was due to the birth of his child this morning.

Kristoffer Ajer, Jozo Simunovic, Dedryck Boyata, Logan Bailly and Gary Mackay-Steven also remain out.

Kris Commons could feature in the ICC match against Barcelona after recovering from back surgery.

Barcelona

Ahead of their first match of the season, Barcelona are without a number of key players but still have a laden of riches as they travel to Dublin.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Arda Turan are just some of the names in the 24 man squad for the Catalan side, who could feature against Celtic. It is thought however that Messi, may not start, nor feature for too long following his excursions in the Copa America.

The Catalan manager, Luis Enrique, will aim to mix youth with regular starters to see if anyone is capable of making an impact in the first-team this season.