Barcelona fear international break could derail Hansi Flick’s flying start | OneFootball

Barcelona entered the international break in excellent form, but the pause has brought a familiar concern for Hansi Flick.

According to SPORT, there was already a feeling inside the club that the huge number of matches and kilometres covered by several players could lead to setbacks. 

Club president Joan Laporta summed up the frustration recently when he said, “This break is very bad for us; we’re in great form.”

For what it is worth, the concern is not about losing momentum, as Barcelona also feared returning from the break with tired or injured players after the demanding start to the season.

Raphinha became Barcelona’s biggest concern

As per the outlet, last week, Flick finished a session with the small group available to him before giving the players a nine-day break until Monday the 5th, during which only Alejandro Balde, Wojciech Szczesny, Gerard Martin, Gabriel Jesus, Brian Farinas and Gavi were training with the first team.

Andreas Christensen, Frenkie de Jong and Roony Bardghji were working separately as they continued their respective recoveries.

Raphinha was injured against Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

The biggest concern, though, came from Brazil.

Raphinha was facing a journey of more than 40,000 kilometres during the international window, something that had already raised concerns within Barcelona. 

Those fears grew after he was substituted during Brazil’s second match against Australia with discomfort in his thigh.

Barcelona immediately acted to make sure the forward returned to Spain rather than continuing with the national team.

The club will now assess his condition before deciding whether he can return to action when Barça face Getafe.

Gordon and Yamal are also carrying a heavy workload

Notably, Raphinha is not the only concern for Flick, as Anthony Gordon and Lamine Yamal, two of his most important wide attackers this season, have also been heavily involved with their national teams.

Lamine Yamal is playing extensively for Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Gordon has played 150 minutes across England’s two matches. He completed the full 90 minutes against Spain before playing another 80 against the Czech Republic.

Yamal has also been given a major role by Spain. He played the entire match at Wembley and then featured for 68 minutes against Croatia. 

England and Spain still have another game to play, meaning their workload could increase further.

Fortunately, Karim Adeyemi is in a slightly different situation. The German has already returned after playing 80 minutes against the Netherlands, where he provided an assist, and 75 minutes against Greece.

Barcelona’s concern now is to get through the final international fixtures without another setback and bring the squad back in good condition for the return of club football.