Hansi Flick raises his voice: the schedule and the rest of FC Barcelona players

Hansi Flick has been particularly open to discussing the issue of the little rest time his players face due to the tight scheduling of commitments. The FC Barcelona is about to face a considerable number of matches that will lead the club to face commitments every 72 hours, a situation that will extend almost until the end of April.

The German coach has begun by criticizing the fact that FC Barcelona has been assigned March 27 as the date to recover the postponed match against CA Osasuna. "I prefer not to talk about my reaction when I found out we would be playing this Thursday, it was not good," he initially expressed.

This decision disrupted the planning of the culé team. In fact, Hansi Flick revealed that they initially had the idea of "giving two days off to all internationals" because "the situation was good after the international break" as they had to play on Sunday against Girona. However, they had to change it because the players needed to recover.

Flick 'charges' against the management of the schedule

Later, he admitted that the management of the schedule could be more optimal, especially when there are international competitions involved. "This is the situation. We can talk about tomorrow's match, but also about the match against Leganés (Saturday, April 12), prior to the match against Dortmund the following Tuesday. When you play away at 9 PM, we always arrive late, which is not satisfactory. When you see how other leagues manage this..." he warned.

"When you play in the Champions League, it's not a Real Madrid against Barça, but you have to protect your teams as a league, so they can succeed"

Despite this, the Heidelberg native has accepted to resign himself to the situation, pointing out that, from his perspective, the relevant bodies must intervene in such cases. "We have to accept it. They decided it this way. We can't change it. It's a task for UEFA or FIFA to decide that players can have rest. In the end, that's how it is. LaLiga has given the 'ok'" he noted.

"It's a task for UEFA or FIFA to decide that players can have rest"

Regardless of these observations, Hansi Flick did not want to delve into complaints about the schedule. He even avoided getting involved in any controversy after being asked about the complaints from Real Madrid regarding the imminent load of matches facing the big teams, emphasizing that his focus is solely on his team's current situation and he does not wish to talk about other clubs. "We are Barcelona, not Real Madrid, and I am proud that we are Barcelona".

This is a situation that deserves special attention for the development of the season

It is evident that small details like these can have an impact on the course of the season, where any movement can be key, although the physical aspect should not be an excuse for a well-prepared team. "Now every match and every week is important. You can't win the Cup or the Champions, but you can lose them and I don't want that to happen, now we are focused on the upcoming matches and it doesn't matter if we don't have three days between matches, we accept it. We are prepared for it," he stated.

Furthermore, Hansi has highlighted a detail that, in his opinion, would benefit the players participating in international commitments, avoiding extra time in certain knockout rounds, as this additional time can physically affect the players. "Yes. We have to think about it. 30 minutes less is quite a lot. Players have many matches, but the decision is up to UEFA or FIFA," he asserted.

"Players have many matches, but the decision is up to UEFA or FIFA"

It is important to note that in the recent FIFA date, several internationals from FC Barcelona had to play extra time, as was the case for many players who represented the Spanish national team, Frenkie de Jong with the Netherlands, and Jules Koundé with France, adding a significant amount of minutes to players who already have a quite demanding schedule.

Barcelona is ready to face a tight schedule

Finally, Hansi Flick has pointed out how his coaching staff strives to manage the physical aspect of the players as best as possible, so they can cope with the intense rhythm of matches that a team like FC Barcelona, which is currently competing in three different tournaments, must face. "I spoke with my staff and we talked about what we can do to recover the players well. They told me that the players are ready and that playing every three days is not too much for them. I trust them and we'll see what happens," he concluded.