Hansi Flick has named his Barcelona side to face Racing Santander on Wednesday evening at the Spotify Camp Nou, in the sixth round of the Spanish league.
Once again Flick has left Egypt's Hamza Abdelkarim out of his starting eleven. It is the first match since the forward signed a new deal tying him to the Camp Nou until 2030, and he begins on the substitutes' bench.
The young forward put pen to paper on Tuesday evening, with the Catalan club moving to protect their asset by inserting a release clause of 150 million euros, up from just 15 million in his previous contract.
Press reports had claimed Barcelona's coaching staff did not want to field Abdelkarim in the opening matches of the season, during the summer transfer window and before the contract was amended, for fear of losing him to another club.
Abdelkarim rejected that suggestion at the press conference following his signing yesterday.
Just four minutes. That is the sum of Abdelkarim's official action in a Barcelona shirt, coming at the end of the match against Rayo Vallecano in the third round of the Liga. He has featured more than once in friendlies, though, scoring four goals.
Elsewhere, Flick hands Karim Adeyemi the left wing at the expense of Anthony Gordon, who started the last match against Levante, while Dani Olmo replaces Fermin Lopez in midfield.
At the back, the German coach trusts Andreas Christensen ahead of Pau Cubarsi, and Joao Cancelo in place of Xavi Espart.
Barcelona want to keep their winning run going in the Spanish league. The title holders have brushed aside all five opponents since the start of the season.
Barca sit top of the table on 15 points, ahead of Real Madrid on goal difference, and a positive result today would let them pull clear at the summit.
Barcelona's lineup against Racing Santander:
Goalkeeper: Joan Garcia.
Defence: Eric Garcia, Andreas Christensen, Gerard Martin, Joao Cancelo.
Midfield: Rodri, Pedri, Dani Olmo.
Attack: Lamine Yamal, Karim Adeyemi, Raphinha.