What about Rodri's situation? Flick settles on Barcelona's line-up against Bilbao
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has settled the question hanging over new signing Rodri: will he start against Athletic Bilbao this Thursday evening at the Camp Nou, in the postponed fixture from the opening round of La Liga?
Barcelona kicked off their La Liga campaign last Sunday by thrashing Elche 5-0. Rodri, who joined the Blaugrana this summer from Manchester City, watched from outside the squad.
According to Catalan newspaper "Sport", Rodri will start on the bench but stands ready to play a pivotal role, with Flick already confirming the midfielder will make his first appearance in a Barcelona shirt against Athletic Bilbao.
The German plans to pair him with Pedri, though Bernal keeps the holding role this Thursday after his strong showing against Elche on the opening day.
Pedri is expected to form a double pivot with Bernal, exactly as he did at the "Martínez Valero" following the injury to Gavi, who misses tonight's clash.
At yesterday's press conference, Flick pointed out that Pedri's involvement sharpened the team's control over the flow of play. The Canary Islander is expected to start this time.
Fermín López takes the third midfield spot. He scored twice against Elche and began the season ahead of Dani Olmo, a later arrival, among the rotation options.
Uncertainty lingers over the defensive line, particularly at left-back. Flick surprised everyone by turning to Xavi Espart against Elche, and the academy graduate is a strong candidate to start again.
Two other options remain, Baldé and Cancelo, though both start from a relatively weaker position. Alejandro has sat at the centre of transfer speculation over recent days, and despite growing conviction that he will stay, Flick keeps publicly urging him to raise his level in training.
Eric García is the leading candidate at right-back. Christensen and Gerard Martín, the main pairing in central defence during pre-season, look set to start together again.
Flick also cleared up the Cubarsí situation yesterday, saying he prefers to reintegrate the defender gradually given the heavy physical strain of last season.
Up front, two of the three positions appear settled: Lamine on the right wing and Raphinha as the "false nine". The left wing is the one question left to answer.
For now, Karim Adeyemi leads the race to start after his impressive display against Elche. The manager fielded him on the left despite the German being more accustomed to the right, and Adeyemi answered with a superb goal.
His defensive work stood out too, offering constant support to Espart. That was not the only good news for Flick. Anthony Gordon proved instantly ready and left his mark in record time, creating two goals. Young Egyptian forward Hamza Abdelkarim, meanwhile, awaits his chance from the bench.
With this, the expected line-up for Barcelona against Bilbao is as follows:
Goalkeeper: Joan García.
Defence: Eric García, Christensen, Gerard Martín, Espart.
Midfield: Bernal, Pedri, Fermín López.
Attack: Yamal, Adeyemi, Raphinha.
