Barcelona will be without four players for the upcoming visit to Galatasaray in the second round of the main phase of the Champions League. Head coach Hansi Flick has named a group of 22 players for the match in Istanbul, leaving out the injured Rafinha and Frenkie de Jong, as well as Andreas Christensen and Rooney Barji.
The good news for the Catalans is the return to the squad of Eric Garcia. The defender missed the first match of the tournament due to a suspension, given after a red card against Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals last season.
Barcelona started their participation in the Champions League in an excellent way with a categorical 5-1 victory over Feyenoord and will now look for a second consecutive success in the competition.
Meanwhile, the recovery of some of the absentees is going according to plan. Rafinha is expected to be in line for the visit of Paris Saint-Germain at the “Park des Princes“, while Frenkie de Jong has a chance to return to the group for Saturday's clash with Sevilla in La Liga. The Dutch midfielder has been out of action for nearly three and a half months.
The Catalan giants left for Turkey on a charter flight from “El Prat“ airport. The delegation is led by president Joan Laporta, accompanied by board members Joan Soler, Xavier Puig, Carme Ortala and Jaume Santiveri.
After landing in Istanbul, the team will stay at the “Raffles Istanbul“ hotel. The program includes an official press conference by Hansi Flick and Pau Kubarsi at the “RAMS Park“ stadium, followed by the last training session before the match.
For the match on Tuesday night, Barcelona will come out with their special reserve kit in black and purple from the “Nike“ collection, dedicated to basketball legend Kobe Bryant. The Catalans have already achieved a convincing 5-0 victory over Elche in La Liga with the same kit.