Barcelona overhaul physical department after Hansi Flick’s demand | OneFootball

FC Barcelona are set to make several changes to their team ahead of the 2026-27 season, during which they would once again be looking to win the UEFA Champions League. Some changes are already finalized, like the departure of Robert Lewandowski and the arrival of Anthony Gordon, while work is being done on other arrivals and departures.

Meanwhile, a significant change is also expected in the coach Hansi Flick’s staff. According to Diario AS, the fitness department is one particular area where the German coach has decided to bring sweeping changes, and two more major departures, of Rafa Maldonado and German Fernandez, are expected.

One of the main figures in this area, Julio Tous, has already been relocated to the new area of optimization and performance, where he will work also with the reserve and youth teams.

For now, it remains to be seen where Maldonado would be reassigned to another role or would leave the club. Meanwhile, Fernandez, who was previously in charge of strength training, is now set to join the reserve team.

Thus, the newly appointed head of the physical department, Benjamin Kugel, will have a team of three more professionals, Pepe Conde, Milos Mallol and Andrés Martín.

After a rather smooth first year in charge of fitness training, Flick decided to give Tous more responsibility for his second season, and he was also given the role of handling the rehabilitation and recovery of injured players. However, the relapses suffered by Raphinha and Balde during the last season annoyed the head coach, and he decided to take these new responsibilities back from Tous.

From that point, the relationship between the two trainers was strained, and Hansi Flick clearly asked Deco for a drastic change in the physical department before leaving for his vacations. Barcelona have taken the German’s demands quite seriously, and there is going to be a complete overhaul of the physical department this summer.