Barcelona Faces Long Break with Key Players Missing
Barcelona head into an unusually long international break with the wind at their backs and a problem most coaches secretly enjoy: how to keep momentum alive when almost everyone disappears.
Hansi Flick’s side signed off with a statement win, a 3-1 victory over Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan on Saturday, a result that closes this block of the season on a high before the dressing room empties for national-team duty.
Flick’s skeleton squad
The question around Barcelona this week wasn’t about the scoreline in Seville. It was about what comes next: how Flick would handle a break that stretches far beyond the usual window.
Now the outline is clear. And it is sparse.
According to SPORT, the German coach will have just six first-teamers to work with over the coming days: Gavi, Gerard Martin, Alejandro Balde, Gabriel Jesus, Brian Farinas and Wojciech Szczesny.
That list does not include the injured trio Joan Garcia, Andreas Christensen and Frenkie de Jong. All three will stay at the Ciutat Esportiva to continue their recovery programmes, away from the noise of international football but under the eye of the club’s medical staff.
For a coach still imprinting his ideas, six fit outfield players and a goalkeeper is hardly ideal. It is, however, a chance for more tailored work, more detail, more one-on-one time than a normal, crowded session ever allows.
Four sessions, then silence
Barcelona’s plan is tight and controlled.
Training resumes on Tuesday and runs through to Friday. Four sessions, a small group, and a coach who thrives on intensity.
Then the shutters come down.
From 28 September to 4 October, the remaining players will be given a full week off. A genuine pause in a calendar that rarely allows one. The squad is due back at the training ground on 5 October, by which time the internationals will be filtering home and Flick can finally work with something close to a full group again.
For now, he gets only a short window to drill the six available first-teamers before the club disappears into the quiet of an empty training complex.
Gavi refuses to switch off
Monday was officially a rest day. No group session, no staff meetings on the pitch. Flick himself did not go to the Ciutat Esportiva.
Gavi did.
The midfielder turned up to train voluntarily, squeezing in extra work while most of his teammates stayed away. Joan Garcia and Christensen were also at the facilities, continuing their rehabilitation as they edge back towards fitness.
Fermin Lopez made only a brief appearance, dropping by to collect belongings before heading off. The real collective work starts again on Tuesday, when Flick gathers what’s left of his squad.
For a coach, that kind of attitude from a key midfielder is gold. For everyone else, it’s a reminder: even on a rest day, not everyone rests.
Raphinha’s very different break
While a handful of Barcelona players enjoy an unusually long stretch of downtime in Catalonia, one man is about to live the opposite reality.
Raphinha leaves for international duty with Brazil in the form of his life. His hat-trick against Sevilla not only ripped through the Andalusian side, it also pushed him to the top of the La Liga scoring charts. He travels now as one of the standout forwards in Spain, and as a central figure for his country.
His schedule is brutal.
Brazil will play two matches in Australia, sending Raphinha almost halfway around the world, before flying on to India for another friendly. Only after that long-haul circuit will he return to Barcelona and drop back into a season that has started superbly for him, and promisingly for his club.
While Flick works with six players in the quiet of the Ciutat Esportiva and others recharge at home, Raphinha’s break will be anything but. The question is simple: when he lands back in Barcelona, will he still be riding this wave—or will the miles start to bite?
