The final international break of the season is finally behind us and Barcelona are back in action to begin a hectic late-March and April schedule with a rearranged La Liga match against Osasuna at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium on Thursday night.
This game was originally supposed to happen three weeks ago, but was postponed due to the sudden and tragic death of Barça first team doctor Carles Miñarro. Both teams wanted the game to be played at a much later date in the final week of the league calendar, but La Liga and the Spanish Federation decided to schedule it as soon as possible to ensure all 20 teams have an equal number of matches going into the final stretch of the campaign.
Because of that Barça now have nine games in the next 28 days, with very little rest and recovery time and crucial matches ahead in all competitions. The next four weeks will make or break the Blaugrana season, and it will truly test Hansi Flick and his squad’s ability to compete for everything.
The international break has been cut short by three days and both Ronald Araujo and Raphinha will not be available because of their long trips back from South America, but the rest of the squad is ready to go despite the shorter rest and preparation time and the heavy minutes played by the likes of Jules Kounde, Frenkie de Jong and Lamine Yamal in their Nations League ties.
But Hansi Flick has already set the tone of no excuses in his pre-match press conference and is expecting his team to play as well as they did prior to the break: Barça are still unbeaten in 2025 and are top of the table thanks to their unforgettable comeback against Atlético Madrid 10 days ago, and a victory on Thursday would give them a three-point lead over second-place Real Madrid with 10 matches to go for both sides.
The Catalans can take a big step towards establishing themselves as title favorites with wins over Osasuna and Girona at home over the next four days, but they must take it one game at a time. Osasuna might not be in great form but still have a dangerous team, and despite missing their best player in winger Bryan Zaragoza they have other attacking threats and are desperate for a big result in the Catalan capital to help their battle against relegation.
Barça have no choice but to adapt to the strange circumstances surrounding this one and just play their game, and they should be more than good enough to win if they do so.
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Kounde, Eric, Iñigo, Balde; Gavi, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Fermín; Ferran.
Osasuna (5-4-1): Herrera; Areso, Boyomo, Catena, Herrando, Bretones; García, Moncayola, Muñoz, Aimar; Budimir.
