Flick talks Araujo, Raphinha, Cubarsi, Inigo, Lewandowski ahead of Barcelona vs Osasuna | OneFootball

Following the international break, FC Barcelona will be back in action on Thursday, as they take on CA Osasuna in their rescheduled La Liga fixture.

The Blaugrana’s match against Osasuna was initially supposed to be played earlier this month but had to be postponed following the untimely passing of the Catalans’ first-team doctor, Carles Minarro.

With the game now being scheduled for March 27 – a decision that was not welcomed by both clubs – Barcelona will have to play two matches in under 72 hours as they are also set to take on Girona on Sunday.

Ahead of the game against Osasuna, Barça boss Hansi Flick addressed the media, giving his thoughts about the fixture calendar, among other things.

Expressing his discontent at the match scheduling, the German stated: “The players have played with their national teams but we have to talk about the game against Osasuna. We don’t know if it’s the best day to play.

“I’m not happy with the situation, in other leagues they manage the calendar differently for teams playing in the Champions League.”

Continuing, he added: “I don’t want to talk about my reaction when I found out the game was on Thursday as it wasn’t good at all, but it’s something we from the club can’t do anything about.”

Barcelona will likely have some notable absentees for tomorrow’s game, but Flick insisted that the team has the quality to win in spite of that.

“The team has a lot of quality and we can beat any opponent even though we are missing players,” he remarked.

Flick then confirmed two major absentees for Barcelona tomorrow in Raphinha and Ronald Araujo, saying:

“Raphinha and Araujo will not be in the squad tomorrow. They have a long flight and they have to recover.”

No Cubarsi, Araujo for Barcelona against Osasuna. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

The Barcelona head coach also revealed that Pau Cubarsi, despite resuming training, will be given a rest tomorrow and that Eric Garcia and Inigo Martinez will start as the centre-backs.

“Eric and Inigo will be the centre-backs for tomorrow’s game. Cubarsi’s injury is not important but we prefer him to rest,” he said.

Regarding Real Madrid’s complaints about the schedule in the recent past, Flick remarked: “We are Barça, not Real Madrid and I am very proud that we are Barça.”

On how he saw the players who had to play extra time in their respective UEFA Nations League matches, the Barcelona head coach noted:

“I didn’t see any difference in training today. We have to manage the players’ minutes, it’s a difficult thing to say who will play.”

On the condition of Robert Lewandowski, who had a minor knock while on national team duty, Flick said: “He is fit, he can play. We will decide tomorrow.”

Given the workload of players, the Barcelona manager suggested removing the 30-minute extra time from UEFA Nations League fixtures, saying:

“I think they could consider removing extra time, the best players have a lot of games to play and it would save 30 minutes.”

On how Barcelona plan to tackle the upcoming run of fixtures where they are set to play seven games in 20 days, Flick said:

“I had a meeting with the staff and the physiotherapists. We talked about what to do for the players to recover better and they told me that they are all fine and that they can play every 2-3 days. I leave it in their hands.”

Source: SPORT