Flick springs a surprise in Barcelona’s line-up against Betis.. two big stars on the bench

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick surprised fans with a different line-up against Real Betis, leaving two big stars on the bench despite both being available.

The German coach’s decisions come ahead of a huge week against Paris Saint-Germain and then Real Madrid in the Clasico, and show how he plans to manage the coming games.

Barcelona announced their official XI for the trip to La Cartuja in LaLiga matchday nine, according to El Desmarque:

Goalkeeper: Joan Garcia. Defence: Kounde, Cubarsi, Gerard Martin, Espart. Midfield: Rodri, Pedri, Fermin Lopez. Attack: Lamine Yamal, Adeyemi, Gabriel Jesus.

Raphinha and Frenkie de Jong start on the bench after returning from injury, with reports suggesting they could come on in the second half, while Lamine Yamal starts again despite the talk about managing his minutes.

Flick had warned in his pre-match press conference that the team must not think about PSG and the Clasico, stressing how difficult Betis are at home, where they have won all four of their league games this season.

Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis line up with Valles; Bellerin, Llorente, Valentin Gomez, Fran Garcia; Bernal, Ceballos, Fornals, Lo Celso; Abde and Cucho Hernandez.