“We have UCL in few days” - Barcelona fans name player who should have been rested instead of Raphinha in starting line-up to face Real Betis

A section of Barcelona fans on social media believe manager Hansi Flick should have rested Lamine Yamal instead of Raphinha in their LaLiga clash with Real Betis. La Blaugrana are squaring off against Los Verdiblancos on Saturday (April 5) at the Montjuic Stadium.

Yamal and Raphinha have both been key players for La Blaugrana this season. The former has contributed more assists for the Catalan club in the ongoing campaign, while the latter has contributed more in goal-scoring.

After the match against Real Betis, Barcelona will host Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday (April 9).

The lineup for Barcelona’s league clash with Betis has been released. Yamal was included in the starting XI while Raphinha was named as a substitute as Ferran Torres replaced him on the left wing.

However, the decision to start Yamal and bench the Raphinha didn’t sit well with some La Blaugrana faithful as they think the La Masia graduate should have been rested instead of the Brazilian winger. Here are some of their reactions:

"Can we rest Lamine?? We have ucl in few days,'' an X user wrote.

Another tweeted:

"Would’ve gone Raphinha instead of Lamine.''

"Lamine needs rest man,'' @FCBunbiased opined.

"Yamal should be rested for Raphinha,'' @IsmailAbdulrra2 posited.

"Raphina should’ve started, yamal needs rest!!!!'' @JujuSalgado11 added.

"Yamal and Kounde have played every single game. Why not play Raphinha today?'' @unofficialanuj queried.

It is worth noting that Raphinha didn’t feature in Barcelona’s last two league games prior to the Betis clash.

"We want to be careful with him" – Hansi Flick explains reason to bench Raphinha for Barcelona vs Real Madrid

Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has explained his decision to exclude Raphinha from the starting XI for their league clash with Real Betis. The German tactician said he benched Raphinha because he played several matches for his national team during the recent international break.

When Flick was asked about his selection ahead of the kickoff, he said (via Barca Blaugranes):

"We have to try to impose our style of play. Raphinha has just played several matches with his national team. We want to be careful with him."

“Ferran is very important. He’s improved a lot this season. He does a great job inside the box."

If Flick's side defeat Manuel Pellegrini’s men, they will extend their lead at the top of the table to six points as their archrivals Real Madrid lost to Valencia earlier today.