{"id":81616,"date":"2026-09-06T14:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T14:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/81616\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T14:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T14:23:10","slug":"hansi-flick-explains-decision-to-hand-rodri-his-first-barcelona-start-i-want-to-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/81616\/","title":{"rendered":"Hansi Flick explains decision to hand Rodri his first Barcelona start: &#8216;I want to see..&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/confirmed-barcelona-starting-line-up-to-face-valencia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">announced his starting lineup<\/a> for the clash against Valencia, and has included several surprises in the list.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the defence remains largely unchanged, the manager has opted to start Pedri and Rodri together in midfield alongside the team\u2019s best-performing attacking midfielder this season \u2013 Fermin Lopez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In attack, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Anthony Gordon all hold on to their starting places, objectively making the starting XI against Valencia the team\u2019s strongest yet.<\/p>\n<p>Flick\u2019s pre-game interaction<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking on the pitch side ahead of kickoff on Sunday afternoon, Barcelona\u2019s manager Hansi Flick answered a couple of quick questions on his starting lineup and thought process behind the selection.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fc-barcelona-v-athletic-club-laliga-ea-sports-2026-27-1-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Lamine Yamal of Barcelona\" class=\"wp-image-210924\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.4993035329872104;width:740px;height:auto\"  \/>Yamal is starting vs Valencia. (Photo by Alex Caparros\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He began by providing an update on Lamine Yamal who was rumoured to have suffered discomfort during the week, yet starts against Valencia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ll see, he might play 90 minutes or 60 minutes, it depends on how the match goes, but he\u2019s definitely ready.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was then asked what he made of the opposition and his expectations from the clash against Valencia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt will be a tough match, especially in this atmosphere and with this crowd present.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut we want to deliver our usual style; we know the quality of our team and how we want to play, and we must show that on the pitch,\u201d Flick added.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fc-barcelona-v-athletic-club-laliga-ea-sports-2026-27-6-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Rodri of Barcelona\" class=\"wp-image-210997\"  \/>Rodri\u2019s first Barcelona start is here. (Photo by Alex Caparros\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, the manager was asked about his decision to finally hand Rodri his first start in a Barcelona shirt, to which Flick calmly spoke on the luxury he has in terms of midfield options.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have great quality in midfield, and Marc Bernal has delivered fantastic levels in the past matches,\u201d he began, acknowledging Bernal\u2019s level.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s good now for Rodri to start the match, because he needs to improve his physical readiness. And from what I\u2019ve seen from him in training, I can say he\u2019s a fantastic player,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, he spoke on what he expects from the Pedri-Rodri duo who start their first game together for Barcelona.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI want to see how well what we\u2019re working on will succeed with him alongside Pedri, and what they can offer together in midfield.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mundodeportivo.com\/futbol\/fc-barcelona\/20260906\/1004223960\/flick-increible-jugar-calor.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Mundo Deportivo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has announced his starting lineup for the clash against Valencia, and has included several&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,222,930,301,95],"class_list":["post-81616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-hansi-flick","tag-la-liga","tag-valencia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}