No rest for Raphinha, says Barcelona boss Flick
Hansi Flick is unlikely to rest Raphinha for Barcelona's LaLiga match at Real Betis this weekend.
Flick opted to rest LaLiga top scorer Robert Lewandowski, who had started 20 straight matches in all competitions, for Barcelona's 5-1 victory at Mallorca in midweek.
Raphinha scored twice in that match, taking his tally of LaLiga goal contributions for the season to 17, a joint-league high alongside Lewandowski.
The former Leeds United attacker has been crucial to Barca's form under Flick, and the former Germany coach claimed Raphinha is a player he cannot afford to rotate.
Flick said: "We need Rapha. When he is available, he will play.
"If he's ready for 90 minutes, then he'll play 90 minutes. So is Lewandowski, who will also play tomorrow."
Barca, which tops the LaLiga standings with 37 points, snapped a three-game winless run in the league with the victory over Mallorca.
The Blaugrana will be looking to continue the momentum against 10th-placed Betis, which is winless in its past four league matches.
"Betis are a very good team, with very experienced players. They are always capable of pressing high up the pitch, that's their style and we have to be careful," Flick said.
"They know how to play and we have to be focused. Manuel [Pellegrini] is a very experienced coach, his teams always play very good football.
"His style is very good, his teams like to have the ball. It's not easy for opponents to play against him."
Betis coach Pellegrini is set to take charge of his 500th game in LaLiga.
The Chilean will become the eighth coach to hit that milestone in the competition's history.
His teams have scored 762 goals, conceding 592. Pellegrini has won 239 matches, losing 138 and drawing 122.
Across his LaLiga coaching tenure, Pellegrini has recorded a 47.9 per cent win ratio. His best win percentage came at Real Madrid, where he won 81.6 per cent of his matches – 31 wins out of 38 games.
However, he has lost 19 LaLiga matches against Barca, suffering more defeats against that club than he has any other.
