Kounde dropped against Rayo for arriving late

There is news in the Barca-Rayo preview. Jules Kounde, one of the regulars in Hansi Flick's eleven, will start the match from the bench. A surprising substitution that ‘Jijantes’ was in charge of shedding some light on, as it was all related to unpunctuality.
The source said that the reason was that the player arrived late for the pre-match talk, something that the German coach is very strict about. It is not the first time he has been punished in this way, as in Vitoria, in the match against Alaves in October, he was also left out of the starting eleven.
In charge of replacing the Frenchman on the right flank will be home-grown player Hector Fort, who has not played since the quarter-final against Valencia. This is nothing new for a Azulgrana player. Inaki Pena missed the Spanish Super Cup semi-final due to a delay and that paved the way for Szczesny.
During the pre-match interview on ‘Movistar’, Hansi Flick explained why Kounde was a substitute: "It's an internal decision about Jules". Thus, the French defender, who has accumulated almost 3,000 minutes this season, will have to wait for his chance from the bench.