Barcelona will bring down the curtain on another impressive season when they take on Valencia at the Mestalla on Saturday. Hansi Flick’s side have already wrapped up the La Liga title, so there will be nothing but pride to play for – and that has been reflected in his squad selection for the trip south.
In the summer, a number of Barcelona players will be heading to the World Cup, and for two of them, their minds can already shift to the tournament in North America. That’s because Hansi Flick has chosen to leave Jules Kounde and Raphinha out of the squad to face Valencia on Saturday, as per MD.
In Kounde’s case, it is not a surprise that he misses out. He was absent from Friday’s training session, and Flick confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the France international is being managed ahead of the 2026 World Cup starting in a few weeks’ time. As for Raphinha, he has had a tough season in terms of injuries, so again, the decision has been made for no risks to be taken ahead of his involvement with Brazil at the World Cup.
Flick has chosen against calling up any replacements for the absent pair – this is not a problem when it comes to Kounde considering that Eric Garcia and Xavi Espart as capable understudies, but in attack, Raphinha’s omission means that only four forwards will make the trip to Mestalla: Roony Bardghji, Marcus Rashford, Ferran Torres and Robert Lewandowski, who will make his final Barcelona appearance before leaving when his contract expires.
Barcelona omissions make a lot of sense
Flick has been very keen to protect his players when necessary, so it isn’t much of a surprise that he’s left out two stars that have injury risks having over them ahead of the World Cup. The match against Valencia is a no-contest for the Catalans, although they would still like to go out on a high.
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