The Barcelona squad for Feyenoord is in, and Hansi Flick has gone as strong as he possibly could. Barça open their Champions League campaign at the Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday evening, and the list the manager published a few hours before kick-off contains three absences and not a single surprise.
Eric García is suspended, Frenkie de Jong and Roony Bardghji are long-term injuries, and everybody else is available.
The Barcelona squad for Feyenoord: three out, no experiments
Eric García serves the one-match UEFA ban carried over from last season’s quarter-final second leg at Atlético Madrid, where he was sent off. He trained this week in a protective mask after a blow to the nose at Mestalla, but the ban settles it either way, per Mundo Deportivo.
De Jong (knee ligament damage) and Bardghji (a ruptured ACL) remain the squad’s two long-term absentees, and Bardghji is not registered for this league phase at all. The one genuine selection call was Jesse Bisiwu: the Belgian winger has come through the left-ankle problem he picked up in the Copa Catalunya final, has trained with the group and is registered on Barça’s A list — but Flick had already ruled him out at Tuesday’s press conference and left him out of the list.
Two names stand out at the other end of the squad. Egyptian forward Hamza Abdelkarim is included, as is midfielder Brian Fariñas, the only List B player Flick called up. Both are in line for a Champions League debut, according to Barca Universal. The summer arrivals — Anthony Gordon, João Cancelo, Rodri, Karim Adeyemi and Gabriel Jesus — are all in.
Ten academy players on the first List B
Barça also lodged their first List B of the campaign, and it runs to ten La Masia names: Fariñas (4), goalkeepers Eder Aller (31) and Iker Rodríguez (35), defenders Jordi Pesquer (33), Landry Farré (39), Guillem Víctor (40) and Alex Campos (41), midfielders Orian Goren (32) and Pedro Villar (38), and forward Shane Kluivert (37), as reported by Mundo Deportivo.
List B is limited to players born on or after 1 January 2004 who have spent two uninterrupted years in the academy — which is why Abdelkarim and Bisiwu, both signed this summer, sit on List A instead. It can be redrawn 24 hours before every match, so more academy names will filter in. The postponement of the Juvenil A’s Youth League tie with Feyenoord to Thursday freed several of them up for this one, per SPORT via Barca Universal.
How the XI could look with Koundé at right-back
Mundo Deportivo expect a full-strength side: Joan García; Jules Koundé, Pau Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, Xavi Espart; Rodri, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Fermín López, Gordon; and captain Raphinha. Barca Universal see the same 4-3-3 with Rodri and Fermín starting, Koundé stepping in for Eric and Andreas Christensen waiting behind the Cubarsí–Gerard Martín pairing. Our predicted line-up and team news has the fuller breakdown.
Flick gave nothing away in training, and Mundo Deportivo note he now has far more credible starters than shirts to hand out — something the German has admitted will mean more difficult conversations this season.
A near-flawless record in Camp Nou openers
The history is heavily on Barça’s side. This is the club’s first Champions League opener at the Spotify Camp Nou since 2022-23, and across 18 previous home openers in Barcelona the record reads 16 wins, one draw and one defeat — 64 goals scored, 14 conceded, per Mundo Deportivo. Only Bayern Munich have won on the night, 0-3 in 2021-22; Milan drew 2-2 in 2011-12.
Feyenoord arrive unbeaten in the Eredivisie under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, with three wins and two draws and a 3-1 victory over NEC last time out. Barça have won all four of their La Liga matches, the most recent a 5-0 away win at Valencia.
Kick-off at the Spotify Camp Nou is 18:45 CEST (17:45 BST), with the game on Movistar Liga de Campeones in Spain.
Squad-list, List B, probable-XI and historical-record detail translated from Mundo Deportivo; English-language confirmation via Barca Universal.
