Barcelona Vs Osasuna, “Blaugrana” Relying on One Leg

BARCELONA, THURSDAY – Barcelona is faced with a less than ideal situation when hosting Osasuna in a postponed match at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, Friday (3/28/2025) at 03.00 WIB. The mission to collect full points for the “Blaugrana” is like resting on one leg because the majority of players are not in the best condition after defending their respective countries during the international break.

The match against Osasuna was originally scheduled to be held three weeks ago. However, the Spanish League authorities finally decided to postpone the match due to the death of Barca's main team doctor, Carles Minarro, a few hours earlier. The postponed match was then decided to be held at the end of March. However, the latest schedule decision drew protests from Barca and Osasuna because it was considered too close to the international break.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has rejected Barca and Osasuna's request to have the match scheduled not too close to the international break. This has had serious consequences for Barca, who have released 13 players to their respective national teams.

Due to the close proximity of the international break, two Barca players are certain to be absent. They are winger Raphinha and center-back Ronald Araujo. Raphinha played the full 90 minutes for Brazil in their 1-4 defeat to Argentina in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Araujo was on the bench for Uruguay against Bolivia.

Barca coach Hansi Flick decided to drop both of them because he did not want to take any risks with their fitness. Although he did not play, Araujo's condition was questionable because he had to make the long journey from South America to Spain.

"They had a long flight and that's not the best way to recover. Araujo didn't play in the last game, but after his injury we don't know how he trained. We have a good team and what I saw in training was positive. We have to fight for the three points. If we win tomorrow, that would be a good reaction," Flick said.

With Araujo out, Flick confirmed Barca's back line will be filled by Eric Garcia and Inigo Martinez. Meanwhile, the left winger position vacated by Raphinha is likely to be filled by Fermin Lopez.

The close match time with the international break further reduced Barca's strength because several players have not had enough recovery time. In addition to Araujo and Raphinha, several players such as Lamine Yamal, Frenkie De Jong, Pedri, Ferran Torres, and Jules Kounde are still included by Flick in the squad. However, their fitness conditions are not yet at their peak because they have just competed for the national team in the continuation of the European Nations League.

It is no wonder that the squad's condition, which has not yet fully recovered, forced Barca to play as if on one leg. On the other hand, Osasuna had a slight advantage because only two players played during the international break. They are Enzo Boyomo (Cameroon) and Ante Budimir (Croatia).

“The players from Spain, France and the Netherlands need to recover. Today they had their first full training session. That’s how it is, and it’s not the best situation for them, but they are professional players. I’m very happy with them. I don’t see any difference from the players, they trained very well,” Flick said.

Despite not appearing at their best, Barca had no choice but to win. That was the only way they could make a gap with Real Madrid in second place. Real and Barca's points collection is currently balanced, 60 points. However, Real has played one more game. This means that Barca will be three points ahead of Real if they can beat Osasuna.

Meanwhile, Osasuna Coach Vicente Moreno, Barca's fitness issues provide an opportunity for his team to steal points. Osasuna is currently in a bad trend with only one win in the last 15 matches. In the previous match, Osasuna lost at home to Getafe.

Benefiting from Barca's limping strength, Moreno intends to restore his players' confidence by achieving a surprising result at Barca's headquarters. Beating Barca is not impossible considering Osasuna did it in the first meeting this season.

"Facing Barca is certainly a big challenge. But we have already beaten them in the first meeting," Moreno said. (REUTERS)