Problems for Barça? The tough calendar of the culés internationals in October and November

The international calendar once again seriously threatens FC Barcelona's plans for the current season. With a shorter squad than usual (currently, the team has 28 players registered in LaLiga, 6 of them injured), Hansi Flick's men must face a demanding schedule between the League and the Champions League to which, in addition, three national team breaks, with up to six extra games.

During the September break, Barça already lost Fermín López among the nine players called up by their national teams. Pablo Torre covered the loss of the Barça midfielder in the Spanish U-21, with the Cantabrian joining Pau Cubarsí in Santi Denia's team. In addition to Lamine, Pedri, Ferran and Dani Olmo (with the Spanish national team), Barça released Koundé, Lewandowski and Ter Stegen this month, a list that could have been broader had the entire squad been injury-free.

Lamine, Lewandowski and Koundé, the players with the highest number of minutes

Of these, the cases that most concern the Barça coaching staff are those of Lamine, Lewandowski and Koundé. The center back has played every possible minute in the first four days of LaLiga (360) and, in addition, he played 13 minutes on Friday in France's defeat against Italy (1-3). On Monday, he will probably return to the 'Les Bleus' eleven against Belgium.

For his part, 'Lewy' also accumulates significant wear and tear after resting only 17 minutes with Barça in the League and playing 72 minutes with Poland in the victory against Scotland (2-3). At the moment, the '9' has 5 goals in the same number of games this season. With Yamal there is no less fear due to the physical load, since the youth player has played practically everything in the League (he barely rested 4 minutes on matchday 1) and played completely in Serbia-Spain (0-0) despite having finished with discomfort last week's duel against Valladolid. In principle, the winger should rest on Sunday against Switzerland.

Between October and November, the three players have four more games pending with their national teams corresponding to the Nations League. In the case of Spain, the calendar includes two home games in October (against Denmark and Serbia), while in November it is time to visit the Danes and host Serbia. For Koundé, two visits to France are scheduled for October (Israel and Belgium) and, in November, a duel at home against the Israelis and another away, against Italy. Finally, for Lewandowski, the Polish fixture includes a double match against Portugal and home duels against Croatia and Scotland.

Raphinha will also return to action for Brazil in October

Another who will also run the risk of the 'FIFA virus' in the next break is Raphinha. The winger was left out of the Brazilian squad due to a one-match suspension (due to an accumulation of cards) that prevented him from being available for the duel against Ecuador (Brazil's 1-0 win). Although the culé '11' was eligible for the clash against Paraguay (Tuesday, September 10), coach Dorival Júnior preferred to give him a rest.

However, everything indicates that the forward will return for the double qualifying round in October, against Chile (10) and Peru (15), two games where the 'canarinha' is obliged to win to continue climbing positions in the table. In addition, Brazil must play two other qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup in November, against Venezuela (14) and Uruguay (19). Adding the four international duels and the 13 that Barça has scheduled for the next month and a half, Raphinha could accumulate 17 games in just over eight weeks, between September 15 and November 19.