Barcelona and Basel have named their starting sides for their friendly at St. Jakob-Stadion on Sunday.
Stephan Lichtsteiner took over as Basel coach in January and achieved a fifth-placed finish with a squad including Switzerland legend Xherdan Shaqiri.
The Red-Blue have six points from their opening three matches in the Swiss Super League, standing three points behind leaders Lugano and winning 6-1 at Courtetelle in the Swiss Cup on Saturday.
Reigning Spanish champions Barca’s competitive season begins away to Elche in La Liga on August 23 (20:30 BST).
The team has arrived. pic.twitter.com/iLaTgPL9xU
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 16, 2026
Basel confirmed starting team vs Barcelona
Basel starting XI: Renato, Kevin Ruegg, Becir Omeragic, Nicolas Vouilloz, Evann Senaya, Jonas Harder, Metinho, Jean Doucoure, Aaron Malouda, Philip Otele, Albian Ajete
Basel substitutes: Mirko Salvi, Keigo Tsunemoto, Ludwig Malachowski, Zan Celar, Xherdan Shaqiri, Kazeem Olaigbe, Andrej Bacanin, Asane Sow, Flavius Daniliuc, Moussa Cisse, Giacomo Koloto, Noah Kakor, Victory Akpe, Leon White, Moyo-Ola Uruejoma, Cyrill Emch
Barcelona full line up vs Basel
Barcelona starting XI: Joan Garcia, Xavi Espart, Gerard Martin, Andreas Christensen, Alejandro Balde, Eric Garcia, Marc Bernal, Karim Adeyemi, Fermin Lopez, Raphinha, Anthony Gordon
Barcelona substitutes: Wojciech Szczesny, Pau Cubarsi, Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Jules Kounde, Eder Aller, Alvaro Cortes, Ebrima Tunkara, Jesse Bisiwu, Jordi Pesquer, Brian Farinas, Orian Goren, Hamza Abdelkarim
Where to watch Basel vs Barca: TV channel, live online streams
Kick-off on Sunday is at 15:30 BST (09:30 ET / 06:30 PT). The match is not being shown live in the UK, although Barcelona’s official channel is also showing the match in Spain. For full details, visit Barca Play.
Basel vs Barcelona friendly stats
- Basel’s friendly against a Spanish side last season was a 3-3 draw with Villarreal in Altach, taking the lead three times through Xherdan Shaqiri, Albian Ajeti and Kevin Carlos
- That was their first meeting with a Spanish club since 2019, beating Getafe 1-0 away and 2-1 at home during the Europa League group stage, including goals in each game by Fabian Frei
- Against Spanish teams in competitive fixtures, Basel’s record is W4 D5 L11, including a five-match winless run (L4 D1) before those victories over Getafe
- Their most frequent opponents from Spain are Real Madrid, losing 2-1 home and away in the 1971/72 UEFA Cup and 1-0 at home and 5-1 away during the 2014/15 Champions League group stage
- Last season, Basel had the worst goal difference (-3) of any team in the championship round of the Swiss Super League by 14 goals, behind Young Boys, who were the only club to finish below them in the section
- Barcelona’s defeat at Udinese on August 4 was their first pre-season loss since Monaco beat them at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys to win the Joan Gamper Trophy in August 2024
- Their last encounter with a Swiss club was a 5-0 home win over Young Boys during the league phase of the Champions League in October 2024, including a Raphinha goal
- Barca’s competitive record against Swiss clubs is W4 D1, with Basel the only such side to avoid defeat thanks to Eren Derdiyok’s equaliser after Lionel Messi had put Pep Guardiola’s team ahead during the second half at Camp Nou during the Champions League group stage in November 2008
- The previous month, Messi scored after four minutes and Sergio Busquets and Xavi netted either side of Bojan Krkic’s double as Barcelona won 5-0 in Basel
- Both of Barcelona’s previous meetings with Swiss clubs came during the 1968/69 Cup Winners’ Cup, scoring all of their goals after the 74th minute in a 1-0 away win and 3-0 home victory over Lugano
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