Barcelona manager Xavi will welcome two defenders back to the ranks for Wednesday's Copa del Rey quarter-final with Athletic Bilbao at San Mames.

La Blaugrana prepare for the trip to the Basque region with five definite absentees in the form of Gavi (ACL), Raphinha (hamstring), Marcos Alonso (back), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (back) and Inigo Martinez (hamstring), but Joao Cancelo (knee) and Andreas Christensen (ankle) are both back in action.

In the absence of Christensen and Cancelo at the weekend, 17-year-old Pau Cubarsi earned plaudits for his performance against Real Betis on his La Liga debut over the weekend, but he appeared to be cramping up towards the end and gave way to Joao Felix in the 81st minute.

Cubarsi should be given the green light to take on Athletic, but with Xavi affirming that both Christensen and Cancelo are ready for minutes, the former could be a straight swap for the teenager in the backline.

The rest of the Blaugrana backline should remain unchanged, as Inaki Pena also receives protection from Ronald Araujo, Alejandro Balde and Jules Kounde if Xavi opts not to risk Cancelo from the off.

Given the calibre of opposition, Pedri, Ilkay Gundogan and Frenkie de Jong are seemingly primed to link arms in the engine room once again, although Sergi Roberto and Oriol Romeu will provide fresh legs if necessary.

Hat-trick hero Ferran Torres and Robert Lewandowski should be final third shoo-ins, but Lamine Yamal - purely for fitness reasons - could potentially lose his place to Felix, who complemented Torres's treble against Betis with an exquisite outside-of-the-boot strike.

Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Pena; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Pedri, Gundogan, De Jong; Torres, Lewandowski, Felix body check tags ::