Barca-Osasuna clash rearranged with three players unlikely to be available

After the tragic passing of Dr. Carles Minarro Garcia, Barcelona’s home clash with Osasuna at Montjuic was suspended just minutes before the clash. The date for the rearranged fixture is unlikely to go down well with the Catalan club though.

According to Sport, La Liga have dictated that the clash will now take place on Thursday the 27th of March, a date just after the international break. It means the Blaugrana will likely be without Brazilian forward Raphinha and Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo as their international commitments would make it tricky for them to arrive on time.

Raphinha’s Brazil are taking on Argentina, with a kick-off at 01:00 CEST on Wednesday morning, while Araujo’s Celeste are involved in the ever exhausting away trip to face Bolivia, which kick off at 21:00 CEST on Tuesday night. Although no time has been given for Barcelona’s tie with Osasuna, it is predicted that it will be the same 21:00 CEST kick-off, meaning Raphinha would finish his game in Buenos Aires just 42 hours before. For their part, Osasuna may also be missing Enzo Boyomo, who is in action for Cameroon against Libya on the Tuesday an hour before Araujo.

The Catalan daily explain that Barcelona were keen to avoid this date for that exact reason, and Los Rojillo were happy to agree to their preference, which was the 21st of May, between the penultimate and ultimate matchdays of the Liga season. It is expected that Barcelona will formally request a fixture change as a result.

A similar instance took place earlier in the season when Real Sociedad’s Copa del Rey clash with Jove Espanol was rearranged on the Thursday of an international break week due to the DANA flooding in Valencia. Barcelona are scheduled to be in action the following Sunday at 16:15 against Girona, also at Montjuic, while Osasuna are currently scheduled to play a day afterwards against Athletic Club at San Mames, meaning that game would also have to be rearranged.