Joan García and Raphinha: two highly anticipated arrivals in Barcelona after the break

Hansi Flick's FC Barcelona hopes to have Joan García and Raphinha available for matchday 13 of LaLiga EA Sports 2025/26, against Athletic. Both players will have been out for two months with the Catalan club, with the Brazilian's recovery proving more complicated than expected.

The '11' suffered **an injury to his right hamstring** and, in principle, would be out for about three weeks. However, the winger relapsed before the Clásico against Real Madrid on October 26, which meant he had to spend another three weeks on the sidelines.

García, for his part, completed the planned rest after undergoing surgery to treat the tear in the inner meniscus of his left knee, sustained against Oviedo. The goalkeeper was expected to be out for four to six weeks, and the club, after Gavi's injury, did not want to risk his return.

Joan García, a relief for Barça's defensive problems

In the press conference prior to the match against Celta, Flick confirmed Barça's plan with the player from Sallent. "We are very happy with his progress, it's good, but we will wait until the break. After the break he will be back," said the manager when referring to the Catalan goalkeeper.In his first 7 games with Barça, Joan García conceded 5 goals, in addition to completing 3 clean sheets. Wojciech Szczesny, on the other hand, conceded 17 goals in 9 matches, failing to keep a clean sheet on any occasion.

Barça, in fact, has gone 10 consecutive games conceding at least 1 goal, marking their worst defensive streak since 2013 (still with Tito Vilanova at the helm). The defense has been a headache in recent weeks, and with the return of the '13', Flick hopes to give more confidence to the Barça backline.

Problems with pressure in attack have left the Blaugrana defense very exposed, with a high defensive line easily caught out by opponents who break the offside trap by running from their own half. Barça averages 1.37 goals conceded per game (22 in 16 matches) in 25/26. 

Raphinha will give oxygen to the Blaugrana attacking trident

Raphinha celebrating with his teammates one of the six goals conceded by Valencia

Raphinha's return, for his part, will give much more depth to the still reliable Blaugrana attack. Barcelona has scored 44 goals this season (2.75 per game), with Marcus Rashford having the most goal involvements so far (14).

The Englishman has fulfilled the mission of replacing the Brazilian winger to the letter. Although he hasn't been as sharp in finishing, **he has scored 6 goals and leads the team in assists with 8**. As long as the '14' performs at the current level, he will have plenty of arguments to challenge Rapha for a starting spot, who, before getting injured, contributed a couple of assists and 3 goals in 7 appearances.

Lamine Yamal (6G/6A) and Fermín López (6G/4A) have done their part to maintain the potency of a Barça attacking trident that has Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres as its top scorers (7 each)

While Real Madrid depends almost exclusively on Kylian Mbappé's goals (he scored 18 of the team's 34 goals, 53%), Barça is collectively much more reliable in its offense. It's no coincidence that 11 different players on the squad have scored at least once this season.

• In FC Barcelona News we tell you every detail of the blaugrana current events and the evolution of all the injured players

Upcoming FC Barcelona Matches

1. November 22, 2025: Barcelona vs Athletic (16:15 CEST), matchday 13 of LaLiga.
2. November 25, 2025: Chelsea vs Barcelona (21:00 CEST), matchday 5 of Champions.
3. November 29, 2025: Barcelona vs Alavés (16:15 CEST), matchday 13 of LaLiga.