De la Fuente leaves Joan Garcia out for Spain v Serbia | OneFootball

Joan Garcia has been left out of Spain’s friendly against Serbia on Friday, the Barça goalkeeper set to wait for Egypt at the RCD Stadium.

According to El Periódico Mediterráneo, the goalkeeping spot is under the spotlight after Luis de la Fuente named four keepers for this window, prompting guesses over who starts.

Unai Simón is his number one and he should start the first of the two friendlies, with the rest on the bench. De la Fuente could still split minutes across both games, but the opener looks the more significant and likely to feature those he views as starters.

Stacking the heavyweights in game one would also give them more recovery ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Egypt in Cornellà, where a very different line-up is expected.

The coach weighed up whether Garcia should debut in the second half at La Cerámica or be held back for Cornellà, a symbolic return to Espanyol that could draw whistles from sections of the blanquiazul crowd. He has opted not to use him in Villarreal.

Unlike the Gerard Piqué episode, when the defender was regularly booed at home after provoking Real Madrid supporters and amid political tension, Garcia has behaved impeccably. He stayed quiet during the league derby, did not celebrate Barça goals and calmly removed objects thrown, and his move to a title-chasing club has earned him a Spain call-up. David Raya and Álex Remiro also want minutes to push their World Cup cases.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo