Barcelona stars are set to welcome in the Chinese New Year by emblazoning their kits with their names in Mandarin tonight.
Barca face arch-rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-finals this evening.
And as it is the first day of the Chinese New Year today, the Liga giants will mark the occasion by having their names written in Chinese characters on the back of their shirts.
This is the year of the pig in China and this week has seen celebrations take place all around the world.
Barcelona’s clash with Real will also join in with the festivities with the club saying: “[We] will wear some unique shirts in this Wednesday’s game against Real Madrid.
“To commemorate the Chinese New Year, which is being celebrated this week, the shirts will have player names with Chinese characters just below the regular names, the first time that the Club has added new characters on the back of the shirt.
“Also known as the Spring Festival, this traditional festival is the most important of the year in the Chinese calendar, which in 2019 marks the Year of the Pig.
“This year is also an important one for the strategy of establishment of Barca in China, which will experience its most important moment next summer when the first team will visit China and Japan on their preseason tour.”
Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Kick-off time and team news
The semi-final first-leg tie will take place at Nou Camp on Wednesday, February 6 with kick at 8pm UK time.
The return leg will take place at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, February 27, kicking off at the same time.
Real only have injury concerns over Jesus Vallejo and Luca Zidane going into the clash but it’s a different story for Barelona.
Ousmane Dembele, Rafinha, Jasper Cillessen and Samuel Umtiti are injured while Lionel Messi is a big doubt.
The Argentine trained with the Barca squad yesterday as he looks to prove his fitness after suffering a leg injury in Saturday’s La Liga win over Valencia.
Ernesto Valverde has admitted he’s still unsure if the 31-year-old will be available for the El Clasico tie at the Nou Camp.
Valverde said: “I’ve not seen Messi today so have no answer, we will see how he is. I’m not big on taking risks when there are a lot of games ahead of us.
“If La Liga ended tomorrow, if it was our last game… but if a player has an injury, whether it’s Messi or not, I prefer to be careful.”