Barcelona manager Hansi Flick was perhaps preparing for a relaxing international break, allowing him to decompress after an intense run of fixtures in the Copa del Rey, Champions League and La Liga. Yet he will have to be back to work far quicker than expected.
Flick told the media after their win over Atletico Madrid in extremis that ‘the break is good for everyone’, and proceeded to give his players, those not on international duty, five days off to disconnect. However the failed appeal from the Blaugrana and Osasuna to rearrange the postponed fixture from two weeks ago means that they will be in action on Thursday the 27th of March.
As such, there is very little time between the international break and their clash. Ronald Araujo and Raphinha will finish their commitments with Uruguay and Brazil Raphinha with less than 48 hours to go before the game kicks off at Montjuic, while Osasuna are also likely to be without Cameroon international Enzo Boyomo. Barcelona’s Gerard Martin, Pablo Torre and Fermin Lopez are also in action for Spain’s under-21 side on Tuesday night.
Luis de la Fuente (Spain coach): “The Cubarsí thing doesn’t seem serious at all, he could be fine for Sunday.” Via @sport
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 21, 2025
According to Cadena SER though, they could get Araujo back in time for the Osasuna game. They say that there is a chance the Uruguayan Football Association agree to release Araujo from their second fixture, an away trip to Bolivia, which would allow him to return to Barcelona earlier and perhaps be avaiable. Brazil, who face Argentina in Buenos Aires, understandably have no intention of doing the same with Raphinha, who played the full match in an intense 2-1 win over Colombia on Thursday night.
Uruguay are in action against Argentina on Friday night, but Barcelona are sweating on their defensive options. Eric Garcia is fit and available, but Inigo Martinez is recovering from an injury, and there are also doubts about the fitness of Pau Cubarsi too.
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