đź“ť usncan Note: Flick Could Drop FC Barcelona Heavyweight For Valencia Clash
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FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick could drop one of his heavyweights for a home clash against Valencia in La Liga on Sunday.
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FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick could drop one of his heavyweights for a home clash against Valencia in La Liga on Sunday.
The Catalans originally planned to play the fixture at the renovated Camp Nou with a reduced capacity of around 27,000 matchgoers.
As announced this week, however, the action will be played before just 6,000 punters with those that had season tickets at Montjuic in 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 given priority.
The meeting with Valencia is Barca’s fourth in the defense of its Spanish top flight crown, which is thus far defined by two wins and a 1-1 draw last time out to Rayo Vallecano.
A number of Barca stars represented their countries in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, but some had more gruelling commutes than others which could help decide Flick’s starting XI at the weekend.
Raphinha could be dropped from FC Barcelona starting line up
While it was obviously a shorter ride for the likes of Lamine Yamal and Pedri representing Spain in Europe, South Americans such as Raphinha had to cross the Atlantic.
Starting in a 3-0 win over Chile for Brazil at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, the winger then headed north to Bolivia where the five-time World Cup winners lost 1-0.
Raphinha was on the bench as Carlo Ancelotti fielded a second string team in El Alto, but he did make it on for a short cameo at an altitude exceeding 4,000 meters.
With that in mind and the length of the trip back to the Old Continent, AS suggests that a potentially weathered Raphinha could hit the bench against Valencia, with one eye on him being fresh for a Champions League away clash at Newcastle United a week from now.
Raphinha’s loss could be Rashford’s gain in FC Barcelona line up
Raphinha possibly being dropped means that Marcus Rashford could start on Sunday evening for FC Barcelona. The Englishman got the nod from his international manager Thomas Tuchel against Andorra and came off the bench to score a penalty against Serbia. Less time and distance travelled could make the Manchester United loanee fresher, though Ferran Torres could be another potential positional rival for the left flank.
