Barcelona prepared for their trip to Alaves with a training session on Monday evening with renowned tennis players Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem visiting the players. And, as they always do, they warmed up with a series of rondos.

Gerard Pique caught Jean-Clair Todibo out during the drill, nutmegging the new centre-back as he tried to pinch the ball. Not wanting to rub salt in the French teenager's wounds, Pique refrained from celebrating and simply put his hands on his head in disbelief.

Barcelona could mathematically clinch the LaLiga Santander title this midweek and to do so they need to beat Alaves on Tuesday and they need Atletico Madrid to lose to Valencia on Wednesday. They cannot, therefore, win the championship when they visit the Basque Country, but they'll know that another victory would take them to within centimetres of the finish line.

Ernesto Valverde is anxious to win the league as soon as possible and has taken a squad that is close to full strength to Vitoria for the game, only leaving Ivan Rakitic behind out of all the starters and also the injured Rafinha. There could be further rotations to the actual line-up, but Barcelona will go out with the intention of playing, of winning and then of waiting on Atletico Madrid with a 12-point advantage over the side from the capital.

Alaves, though, have plenty to play for as well as they chase an unlikely Europa League berth. Their form hasn't been good of late and they've taken just two from the last 15 available, but this is a blockbuster game and one they'll be up for. There are a few absences for Alaves for this one as starting forward and top scorer Jonathan Calleri is suspended and Guillermo Maripan, Jorge Burgui and Takashi Inui all have injuries that could leave Abelardo without their services.

Ernesto Valverde has named a strong squad for Barcelona's Tuesday night game away at Alaves, but he has decided to give Ivan Rakitic a rest. Also left off the list are Jeison Murillo and Kevin-Prince Boateng, as well as the injured Rafinha. Thomas Vermaelen, on the other hand, is back from injury and in the squad.

The complete squad list is as follows: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Nelson Semedo, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Philippe Coutinho, Arthur, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Ousmane Dembele, Jasper Cillessen, Malcom, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto, Carles Alena, Arturo Vidal, Samuel Umtiti and Thomas Vermaelen.

He'll have to trust in some of his backups for this match against the club he used to play for, a match that kicks off at 21:30 CEST.

Here are stunning pictures from Barcelona's training camp ahead of Alaves clash:

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