Hansi Flick will hope Raphinha's return can help Barcelona move back to the LaLiga summit when they travel to Girona for Monday's clash.

The Brazilian winger has missed Barca's last three games across all competitions, watching on as Atletico Madrid thrashed them 4-0 in the Copa del Rey semi-finals last time out.

Flick confirmed Raphinha should return from a thigh issue for the Girona trip, though Marcus Rashford remains out with a knee issue as Barca look to move a point clear of Real Madrid with victory.

"Rashford is ruled out, although he is better. Raphinha can play," the Blaugrana boss said at his pre-match press conference.

"He's an important player and we miss him. I see him in training. He always improves and increases the dynamics and intensity and that's good to see. For me, he was the best in the world for me last season."

Pedri is another Barca player still sidelined with a muscle issue sustained last month, while Gavi – who has not played since August – remains a way off returning.

"Pedri will return soon. Gavi may not be back in February, but he will be back the following month," Flick added.

Barcelona swept aside Mallorca 3-0 in their last league outing, but Flick expects another tough task at Estadi Municipal de Montilivi.

"Girona are a well-organised, brave team that gets the ball out well. It's important that we are more intense and that we have more dynamics than in previous games," the German head coach continued.

"Today's training session was very good. I saw confidence, we scored goals. We lost Thursday's game [against Atletico]; it was a lesson, but life goes on.

"We have to accept defeat and we have to focus and be confident. We have a lot of quality and we can beat anyone.

"But if we are not focused, what happened in the first 45 minutes happens. Losing is allowed, getting up is obligatory."

Girona are winless in their last three league outings, having been held to a 1-1 draw away to Sevilla in their most recent clash.

They have slipped down to 14th in the standings, but a victory could lift them two places as they look to return to winning ways against the title hopefuls.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Girona – Thomas Lemar

Thomas Lemar scored just two minutes into Girona's visit to Sevilla last time out, and will be keen to deliver once more here.

The France midfielder has only both scored and assisted in one of his 153 appearances in the competition, though he did so against Barcelona for Atletico in October 2021.

Barcelona – Lamine Yamal

A 4-0 thrashing by Atletico ended Lamine Yamal's run of scoring, having found the net in each of his previous five appearances across all competitions.

The Spain international will be expected to dominate again on the road, and he is just one dribble away from completing 100 in LaLiga this season. 

Yamal would be the first player to achieve this across the top five European leagues – the next most is by Yan Diomande, who has 68 for RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.

MATCH PREDICTION – BARCELONA WIN

Barcelona head into this clash as the heavy favourites, owing to their strong head-to-head record against the hosts.

Indeed, Girona have lost their last three LaLiga games against Barca, their longest losing run against the Blaugrana in the competition.

Barcelona have also won four of their five away games against Girona in the Spanish top flight (L1), scoring in all five (12 goals). Only Madrid and Atletico (14 each) have scored more goals at Montilivi in the competition among all visiting teams.

However, there is some room for home hope given Girona have not lost any of their three Catalan derbies played on Mondays in LaLiga (W1 D2), including a 0-0 draw against Barcelona in April 2023.

Girona boast a strong record on their own soil, too, losing just one of their last eight home games in LaLiga (W3 D4), 3-0 against Atletico in December 2025.

But they will have to find a way to stop free-scoring Barca, who have found the net in each of their last 43 top-flight games (115 goals), the current longest scoring run of any team in Europe's big five leagues.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Girona – 16.1%

Draw – 18.5%

Barcelona – 65.4%