Marcus Rashford has been ruled out of Saturday's clash with the flu
Barcelona have confirmed that Marcus Rashford will miss Saturday's clash at the newly revamped Nou Camp due to illness. The Catalans will play , but without the loanee.
A statement read: " will miss today’s match against Athletic Club due to flu". Barca boss Hansi Flick knew he was facing a face against time. Rashford has rediscovered his best form and has started the last 10 matches in all competitions for his club, but that run will now come to an end.
Rashford has scored six goals and come up with a further eight assists since making his loan move. The Englishman has found himself a home on the left with Raphinha absent through injury.
The German said on Friday: "Marcus has fever, so he was out [of training] yesterday and today. There are some doubts if he is back tomorrow."
The Brazilian is now back in training and Flick says he will feature against Athletic at Camp Nou, but not as a starter. are not short of firepower and will make use of their depth to cover.
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Raphinha has returned following an injury absence, but is only fit enough for the bench ( Image: Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Flick said: "The good news is Raphinha is back. I appreciate a lot what he can give the team. We will see tomorrow if 10, 15 or 20 minutes, but he's back and it's a big step for him to come back and be on the bench tomorrow."
It is not yet January but Rashford is determined to earn himself a move to Barcelona on a permanent basis, unless his situation in Manchester changes. It became clear that he was not fancied by Ruben Amorim, who was happy to go public with his criticism of Rashford, who was loaned out to for a period.
Raphinha has returned following an injury absence, but is only fit enough for the bench
Saturday's clash marks Barcelona's first game at Nou Camp since they left for the Olympic Stadium to allow it to be refurbished in 2023. The final renovation won't be done until 2027 with the third tier and the roof still to be finalised. The game will Bilbao sees a capped attendance of 45,000, but Flick is delighted to be back.
"I think we prefer to play in Camp Nou," he said. "When we had the open training there two weeks ago, I went up the stairs and saw the pitch, it was an unbelievable feeling, seeing all the fans around.
"It's a football stadium and this is what we love, so of course we are all happy to be back in out stadium. It can give us a really big push in the match because it's very close and the fans know when the team needs this push."
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