Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has said he is “not happy” about having to play against Osasuna on Thursday on the back of the international break, but attempted to keep counsel on the matter.
The fixture was due to be played earlier in March but was postponed due to the death of Barça’s first team doctor, Carles Miñarro, in the hours before the match.
Barça now face a gruelling run of seven games in 20 days and will be without Raphinha and Ronald Araújo against Osasuna as the duo return from World Cup qualifiers in South America.
“I don’t want to speak about my reaction, I think it’s not good,” Flick said in a news conference when asked for his thoughts on the match being rearranged for this week.
“Players have played for their national teams, but we have to play this match. We can speak about if it’s the right time to play this tomorrow …
“We can also speak about playing Leganés away at 9 p.m. [on April 12 before the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Borussia Dortmund]. When we play away, it’s always at 9 p.m., so we arrive back late in the night.
“It’s to do with recovery for the players. I am not happy with this. When you see other leagues with Champions League teams, it’s different to here.
“When you play Champions League, it’s not about Real Madrid against Barça, it’s about protecting your Spanish teams. But we play, no excuses
“We accept this. It’s a task for UEFA, for FIFA that they say after international breaks it’s necessary that players have three days rest. LaLiga say we have to play and we say ‘Yes, we do it.'”
Flick revealed he cancelled two days off for players that had played for Spain, Netherlands, France and Poland during the international break in order to prepare properly for the Osasuna game.
However, the match comes too soon for Raphinha and Araújo, who both fly back to Europe on Wednesday, while Pau Cubarsà will also not be ready to start after injuring his ankle on Spain duty.
“Rapha and Ronald will not play,” Flick confirmed. “They are out. They have a long flight. It’s not the best way. They have to recover, train.
“And at centre-back, Eric [GarcÃa] and Iñigo [MartÃnez] will start for us. Pau will be on the bench. I hope we won’t need him because also it’s better he has two or three days more. He needs it.”
Barça now face an intense run of games as they compete on three fronts, with the rearranged game against Osasuna giving them the chance to open up a three-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga.
Flick’s side then welcome Girona on Sunday, travel to Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey semifinal on Wednesday and host Real Betis next Saturday.
Those matches are followed by the Champions League tie against Dortmund, which sandwiches an away game against Leganés in the league.
“I have a meeting with my staff, also the physiotherapists, the fitness coaches, and we spoke about what we can do to recover better and faster,” Flick said.
“They said to me, ‘Hey, coach, the players are good, they are fit.’ They think to play every three days is not a big thing for them, so I believe in them and we will see what happens.”
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