Marcus Rashford will return to the Barcelona starting lineup, while Lamine Yamal and Frenkie de Jong are unavailable to take on Valencia at the Johan Cruyff Stadium on Sunday.

Barcelona will be eager to return to winning ways when they welcome Valencia to the Johan Cruyff Stadium on Sunday evening. Hansi Flick has received a mixed bag of updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.

Lamine Yamal is the most notable absentee due to an issue in his pubic area. The Spanish attacking sensation has joined Frenkie de Jong (leg) and Gavi (knee) on the sidelines, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen (back) and Alejandro Balde (hamstring) being long-term absentees.

However, Marc Bernal is fit and available after spending a year on the sidelines due to a knee injury. While the Spanish midfielder will unlikely be ready to take on Valencia from the get-go, he is closing in on achieving full fitness. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Flick provided fitness updates on Yamal and Bernal.

The Barcelona manager said, “He joined the national team with pain and didn’t train. They gave him painkillers to play. They had at least three goals advantage in each game and he played 73 and 79 minutes, and he couldn’t train between matches. That isn’t looking after the player. That makes me very sad.”

“He [Bernal] won’t be in the eleven yet, but he is getting closer to being ready. He will have all the emotion from being back with the team again tomorrow and we will have to manage it properly.”

Joan Garcia will retain his spot between the sticks, with Barcelona lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Valencia on Sunday. The backline should feature Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen, Pau Cubarsi, and Gerard Martin.

As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Pedri and Marc Casado in the absence of Frenkie de Jong and Gavi. Dani Olmo will likely get the nod to reprise the no. 10 role instead of Fermin Lopez. Finally, Robert Lewandowski will return to the starting lineup as the central striker, with Raphinha and Marcus Rashford being the two wide attackers.

Predicted Barcelona XI: Joan Garcia; Kounde, Christensen, Cubarsi, Gerard Martin; Pedri, Casado; Raphinha, Olmo, Rashford; Lewandowski