Credit to FC Barcelona for winning a game in which they were short-handed, due to a scheduling snafu. Raphinha and Ronald Araujo did not feature in the 3-0 win over Osasuna, due to their having just returned to Spain, after being on international duty for World Cup qualifiers in South America.
FC Barcelona vs Girona FYIs
The Catalan Derby
Kick: Sun. March 27, 8pm, Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Barcelona, Catalonia
Barca Preview Material: Full Injury List Team News Starting XI Prediction
La Liga Standing: Girona 13th, 34 pts, Barca 1st, 63 pts
La Liga Form: Girona LLDDD Barcelona WWWWW
Result Probability: Girona 10% Draw 14% Barca 76%
Barca Team News
With the long-flight across multiple time zones, the jetlag, and how it affects one’s circadian rhythm, participation was impossible for Raphinha and Cubarsi.
Raphinha was just left out of the squad entirely while Cubarsi made the bench but did not play.
Pau Cubarsi also did not play, but he was healthy enough to make the matchday squad. He suffered an ankle injury while on international duty, albeit much closer to home, as he’s a Spanish international.
Maybe he’ll be ready to start come Sunday. The other two could as well, but it all depends on how quickly they re-adjust to Catalan time. Also, Andreas Christensen is obviously not back to full fitness either, as he was not involved in any capacity.
Right now, it doesn’t appear that there are any new fitness concerns for the Catalan club, emerging from the nice win over Osasuna, but we’ll be back with an update(s) is needed.
Barca boss Hansi Flick is not happy about the match rescheduling, and it’s easy to understand why.
“It’s to do with recovery for the players. I am not happy with this,” he said yesterday, in his pre-Osasuna press conference.
“When you see other leagues with Champions League teams, it’s different to here.
“When you play Champions League, it’s not about Real Madrid against Barça, it’s about protecting your Spanish teams. But we play, no excuses
“We accept this. It’s a task for UEFA, for FIFA that they say after international breaks it’s necessary that players have three days rest. La Liga say we have to play and we say ‘Yes, we do it.'”
This match was supposed to be played earlier this month, but it was called off at the last minute, due to the sudden death Barçelona’s team doctor, Carles Miñarro; which occurred just hours before the match.
Postponing the match was the right thing to do, out of respect to Miñarro’s family and friends.
When it came to rescheduling it though, there really wasn’t a lot of good options.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.