Barca boss says Rashford has ‘great opportunity’ with Raphinha injury | OneFootball

Barcelona coach Barcelona, Hansi Flick, said on Friday, on the eve of the clash against Atlético de Madrid in the Spanish league, that England forward Marcus Rashford has a “great opportunity” to stand out with Raphinha’s injury.

The Brazilian player will be sidelined until May due to a thigh problem, opening up space for Rashford, who is usually a substitute. The England forward, on loan from Manchester United, delivered good performances in the first half of the season but has lost ground in recent weeks.

“I’ve said it before, I’m happy with Marcus. He has been playing well. He had some problems in recent weeks, got injured, and we need to be careful with that,” Flick told reporters.

The German coach stressed that Rashford will also have to compete with other players for Raphinha’s spot.

“It’s a great opportunity for him to show his quality again, but we also have other options (…) Fermín [López] can play there, Gavi as well,” he said.

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Barcelona have an option to buy Rashford from Manchester United for 30 million euros (approximately R$ 180 million), but have not yet decided whether to exercise it.

Flick explained that he gave Raphinha a few days off so he could stay in Brazil after the injury, suffered in Brazil’s 2-1 friendly defeat to France last week.

Raphinha will miss Barça in several Spanish league matches and in the Champions League quarterfinal clash against Atlético de Madrid, with the first leg next Wednesday.

“It’s not the best moment for this injury, neither for us nor for him, and he was sad about it,” Flick commented.

“I spoke with him on a video call, he was very disappointed, upset… I gave him a few days in Brazil with his family to clear his head,” he explained.

Flick also revealed that defenders Jules Koundé, Alejandro Balde and Eric García are available to face Atlético at the Metropolitano Stadium and confirmed that midfielder Frenkie de Jong remains sidelined through injury.

Barça, who will face Atlético three times in 11 days, were knocked out by the ‘Colchoneros’ in the Copa del Rey semifinal at the beginning of March.

In the Spanish league, the Catalan side lead with a four-point advantage over Real Madrid (2nd), while Atlético are in fourth place, 16 points off the top.

*By AFP

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.