Barcelona have confirmed that Marcus Rashford will be absent from Saturday's match at the newly refurbished Nou Camp due to illness. The Catalans are set to face Athletic Club, but will do so without the Manchester United loanee. The club released a statement saying: "Marcus Rashford will miss today's match against Athletic Club due to flu". Barcelona boss Hansi Flick was aware it would be a race against time.

Rashford, who has been in top form and started the last 10 matches in all competitions for his club, will now see his streak come to an end. Since his loan move, Rashford has netted six goals and provided eight assists. With Raphinha sidelined due to injury, the Englishman has made the left wing his own.

Flick revealed on Friday: "Marcus has fever, so he was out [of training] yesterday and today. There are some doubts if he is back tomorrow."

Raphinha is now back in training and Flick confirmed he will play against Athletic at Camp Nou, albeit not from the start. Despite Rashford's absence, Barcelona are not lacking in attacking options and will utilise their squad depth.

Flick added: "The good news is Raphinha is back. I appreciate a lot what he can give the team. We will see tomorrow if 10, 15 or 20 minutes, but he's back and it's a big step for him to come back and be on the bench tomorrow."

It is not yet January, but Rashford is determined to earn himself a move to Barcelona on a permanent basis, unless his situation in Manchester changes. It became clear that he was not wanted by Ruben Amorim, who was happy to go public with his criticism of Rashford, after he was loaned out to Aston Villa last season.

Saturday's clash marks Barcelona's first game at Nou Camp since they departed for the Olympic Stadium to allow it to be refurbished in 2023. The final renovation won't be completed until 2027, with the third tier and the roof still to be finalised.

The match against Bilbao sees a capped attendance of 45,000, but Flick is thrilled to be returning.

"I think we prefer to play in Camp Nou," he said. "When we had the open training there two weeks ago, I went up the stairs and saw the pitch, it was an unbelievable feeling, seeing all the fans around.

"It's a football stadium and this is what we love, so of course we are all happy to be back in out stadium. It can give us a really big push in the match because it's very close and the fans know when the team needs this push."