On Friday Pep Guardiola released the 18 man roster list that will be traveling Saturday morning to Bilbao to take on Athletic Club.

Without Lionel Messi, who is still recovering from an ankle injury, Barcelona will see the return of Jeffren to the squad after he has recovered from an injury of his own that has seen him sidelined for almost one month.

In addition to Jeffren, the young midfielder from Barça B, Thiago, will also be included on the bench for the second week in a row. Thiago has not made an appearance in a match so far this season but the continued calling from Pep shows his confidence in the youngster.

Eric Abidal remains absent from the club as he is back home dealing with a serious illness in the family.

The full squad available for Saturdays match is: Valdés, Pinto, Adriano, Maxwell, Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Milito, Keita, Thiago, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Mascherano, Jeffren, Bojan, Pedro, Villa.