Barcelona 3-0 Getafe: Surprise Marcus Rashford decision explained by Blaugrana boss Hansi Flick

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick said that he "needed fresh legs" when asked about his decision to bench Marcus Rashford for Sunday's La Liga clash against Getafe.

The on-loan Manchester United attacker struck a brace against Newcastle United in the Champions League on Thursday night and was again expected to be in the XI for the league game against Getafe, with Lamine Yamal still sidelined.

However, the 27-year-old was not present in the starting side, with Ferran Torres and Raphinha instead joining Robert Lewandowski in the final third of the field.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Rashford was dropped by Flick after being late for a team meeting on Sunday, with the Barcelona boss having a no-nonsense view on such incidents.

Jules Kounde, Inaki Pena and most recently Raphinha have all been dropped after similar incidents, and that is allegedly the reason for Rashford's absence from the starting team on Sunday.

Rashford 'dropped' after being late for Barcelona meeting

However, when questioned after the match, Flick said that he simply wanted "fresh legs", with Rashford introduced at the half-time interval of the La Liga fixture.

“It’s normal. I needed fresh legs. And he’s played minutes. You have to look after the players. I hope Rashford is okay," Flick told reporters after the match.

“Today we decided to substitute Raphinha at half-time because he had a yellow card and we did not want to lose him for the next match.”

Ferran Torres scored twice in the first half to send Barcelona on their way, before Dani Olmo added a third in the 62nd minute on a comfortable night's work for the Catalan giants.

Barcelona have moved back into second spot in the La Liga table, two points behind the leaders Real Madrid, and they will be bidding to make it four straight wins in all competitions when they head to Real Oviedo on Thursday night.

When will Yamal return to action?

Yamal has now missed Barcelona's last three matches with a groin issue that he aggravated while on international duty with Spain, and he will again be a major doubt for Thursday's league game against Real Oviedo.

Barcelona are believed to be considering holding Yamal back for the Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain on October 1, so he may not feature again in La Liga until October 5.