The starting lineups for Hansi Flick's Barça and Manolo González's Espanyol for today's match, Saturday, January 3, 2026, at 9:00 PM, have now been confirmed

Below, we review the starting elevens, the benches with the substitutes, and the injured and suspended players for FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol for the matchday 18 clash of LaLiga EA Sports 2025-2026.

FC Barcelona Starting Lineup

Hansi Flick opts for a change from the XI against Villarreal. **Marcus Rashford** returns to the starting lineup in place of **Fermín López**, meaning Raphinha will play as an attacking midfielder. Lamine Yamal remains in his usual position, with Ferran Torres as the '9'.

Deep down, everything remains the same, with the center-back pairing of Pau Cubarsí and Gerard Martín. Joan García remains in goal, as do Balde and Koundé as full-backs. Eric García remains as the defensive pivot.

Barça XI (OFFICIAL):

  1. (#13, P) Joan García
  2. (#23) Jules Koundé
  3. (#18) Gerard Martín
  4. (#05) Pau Cubarsí
  5. (#03) Alejandro Balde
  6. (#24) Eric García
  7. (#21) Frenkie de Jong 
  8. (#14) Marcus Rashford
  9. (#10) Lamine Yamal
  10. (#11) Raphinha
  11. (#07) Ferran Torres

FC Barcelona Bench (substitute players)

  1. (#01, P) Marc-André ter Stegen
  2. (#25, P) Szczesny
  3. (#08) Pedri
  4. (#09) Robert Lewandowski
  5. (#16) Fermín López
  6. (#17) Marc Casadó
  7. (#20) Dani Olmo
  8. (#22) Marc Bernal
  9. (#26) Jofre Torrents
  10. (#27) Dro Fernández
  11. (#28) Roony Bardghji
  12. (#43) Tommy Marqués

FC Barcelona Injured Players

  1. (#04) Ronald Araujo
  2. (#06) Gavi
  3. (#15) Andreas Christensen

FC Barcelona players sanctioned:

  1.  None.

Espanyol's starting lineup against Barcelona 

  • Espanyol XI: Dmitrovic; El Hilali, Calero, Cabrera, Romero; Pol Lozano, González, Expósito; Pere Milla, Dolan; Roberto Fernández.
  • Espanyol Bench: Fortuño (P), Rubio, Puado, Salinas, Riedel, Sánchez, Carreras, Roca, Terrats, Koleosho, Ferran Gómez, Kike García.

Espanyol, for their part, arrive at matchday 18 of LaLiga without significant injury absences and with five consecutive victories in the tournament. Manolo García's team is coming off a surprise win against Athletic at San Mamés (1-2) and will maintain the core of their starting XI against the 'lions' in matchday 18.

The 'pericos' will take to the Cornellà pitch with Dmitrovic and the center-back pairing of the experienced Fernando Calero and Leandro Cabrera. Hilali and Carlos Romero will be the full-backs, while in midfield will be Pol Lozano, Edu Expósito, and Urko González.

Above, Pere Milla and Tyrhys Dolan must accompany Roberto Fernández, the team's '9'. On the bench, Kike García awaits his opportunity, who at 36 years old has accumulated 5 goals in the tournament.