"Looking forward to see him lighting it up", "Gonna be exciting" - Barcelona fans react as teenage star named in XI to face Valencia

Barcelona fans on X (formerly Twitter) are excited to see Roony Bardghji getting a start in their La Liga clash against Valencia on Sunday, September 14. The 19-year-old is making his official debut for the club after joining from Copenhagen in the summer.

Joan Garcia starts in goal for Barcelona, with Jules Kounde as the right-back. Erci Garcia and Pau Cubarsi are the center-back pairing, with Gerard Martin replacing the injured Alejandro Balde at left-back.

Marc Casado partners Pedri in the middle of the pitch, with Chelsea target Fermin Lopez playing ahead of Dani Olmo in the attacking midfield role. Marcus Rashford gets the nod ahead of Raphinha, with Roony on the opposite flank and Ferran Torres leading the attack.

The fans are delighted to see the change from the manager, with Lamine Yamal injured, and posted:

Manager Hansi Flick spoke about Roony during pre-season, admitting that the youngster would not be loaned out, as he plans to give him chances in the first team this season. He said:

“The plan is that Roony stays in the first team. It will depend on him. You can see their level in each training. Like Joan García, Marcus Rashford… We have to improve, it won’t be an easy season for us, neither was the previous one and we had to fight to win the titles.”

RAC1 report that Raphinha was supposed to start the match against Valencia, but was benched by the manager after the winger arrived late for their pre-match session. The manager has previously punished Kounde and Inaki Pena for the same in the 2024/25 season.

Hansi Flick furious with Spain for handling Barcelona star poorly

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick criticized Spain for forcing Lamine Yamal to play against Bulgaria and Turkey by making him take painkillers. He believes that they should have handled him better, adding that the youngster did not need to play over 70 minutes in both games as they were winning comfortably.

He said (via GOAL):

"Lamine Yamal will not be available. He went with the national team in pain and did not train. They gave him painkillers to play. They had at least a three-goal lead in every match, and he played 73 minutes and 79, and between matches he couldn't train. That is not taking care of the player. I am very sad about this."

Lamine Yamal is out of the Valencia clash and could also miss the UEFA Champions League tie against Newcastle United this week.

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Sripad is a veteran Sportskeeda football journalist who has been with the company for around 10 years. His tryst with writing happened in class XI when he started penning blogs, and his foray into football was during the early 2000s, watching matches with his cousins.

Sripad has been a Chelsea fan through and through since the age of 9 and can watch their 2012 Champions League triumph on repeat. The undisputed ‘GOAT’ according to him is Lionel Messi and his favorite managers are Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson. Apart from popular European leagues, he also likes to follow other leagues like the MLS, Saudi Pro League, Eredivisie, and Liga MX.

Sripad believes in only using the right sources for his articles, and is an expert in understanding how to get the right quotes for each news to provide proper background information. His exploits have led him to become a popular figure in European Football and interviewing Premier League legends such as Alan Shearer, Shay Given, Paul Dickov, and John Barnes. His articles have been much revered amongst the football fraternity and have been shared by the likes of John Terry, Gary Lineker, and Declan Rice.

If given a chance to change a football rule, Sripad wants VAR to be fully automated and offside rules to be less stringent. When not working, he likes to watch past Formula 1 races and play FIFA.

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Edited by Sripad