Schweinsteiger out, De Gea in for Barca

Bastian Schweinsteiger will miss Manchester United’s clash with Barcelona, but David de Gea will play as Louis van Gaal believes he should be fit for the start of the season.

Midfielder Schweinsteiger, who was a £14.5 million signing from Bayern Munich, has played in United’s first two pre-season games, but has picked up a minor injury and Van Gaal does not want to risk the German. Schweinsteiger was limited to riding the stationary bike in training Friday.

Goalkeeper De Gea, who sat out the victories over Club America and San Jose Earthquakes and has not played for United since May, is back in contention, having been a full participant in the team’s training session ahead of their Saturday match.

While United only have two more preseason games to go, Van Gaal hopes the Spaniard will be in the right shape to face Tottenham on Aug. 8.

“It is still possible because he shall play tomorrow [Saturday],” Van Gaal said in a news conference. “When players are coming in after injuries, I give them time to recover and build up their fitness.”

Van Gaal did not want to elaborate on the nature of Schweinsteiger’s problem but added, “I say only it is a minor issue and I don’t take risks in preparation time. He shall not even play for 30 minutes.”

The United manager had changed his entire side at half-time in the Club America and San Jose games, but will give the starting 11 against Barcelona longer on the pitch.

And he admitted it will provide a glimpse into his thinking as to who he will select for the Tottenham match.

“Maybe I have Schweinsteiger in my head in the lineup [against Spurs], but I cannot do that, but I will play the line-up I think could play against Tottenham,” he explained.

“We play the first half [team for] 60 minutes, so I have to make a selection already between players if they play 60 minutes or 30. Our building-up programme was 45 [minutes per player], so now you can see which direction I think.”

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