Barcelona will hope to secure a second trophy of the season next weekend, as they travel to Seville to face off against arch rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final. There will be no time to celebrate it though.
At least that is the mindset of Hansi Flick. The tight calendar for the Blaugrana means that almost as soon as the Copa final ends, preparation will have to begin for their Champions League semi-final against Inter on the following Wednesday. As per MD, the celebrations on the night will be limited to the dressing room and the scenes on the pitch, if there are to be any.
Flick is keen to avoid any extra exhaustion or distractions from the first leg against Inter at Montjuic, and has not left any time in the team schedule for a celebration. After the game at La Cartuja, there will be a team meal, and the players will then head to bed before returning to Barcelona on Sunday morning.
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The German manager has previously been keen to emphasize that he only wants the focus of the team to be on the next game, but as the fixtures stack up, increasingly Flick is having to plan ahead on the pitch too. Recent reports claim there will be rotations against RCD Mallorca in Barcelona’s final game before the Copa final, with Flick going for his strongest XI against Celta Vigo this weekend.
Beyond the fatigue being felt by Barcelona’s first-choice players, Flick will no doubt be desperate to avoid any more injuries. With Dani Olmo coming back, the Blaugrana are still without Marc Casado, Marc Bernal and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, while they also lost Alejandro Balde to injury against Leganes last weekend. A short squad has dealt with the fixture list in impressive fashion, but the most exhausting games lie ahead for Flick and company.
