After a one-and-a-half-hour meeting with the squad on Thursday, the team took an hour longer than usual to step onto the pitch before the Barça-Levante match, setting a season record.
Hansi Flick is aware of the need to recover FC Barcelona's squad. After a very productive one-and-a-half-hour meeting with the players last Thursday, this Saturday, before the Barça-Levante match, a season record was broken.
The team stepped onto the Tito Vilanova pitch at 12:02 PM, one hour later than planned. As usual, there was a video session to study the opponent and correct errors. These are days of much discussion and mental preparation to overcome the recent two defeats.
In a press conference, Flick explained the delay: "We have conceded many chances to opponents and discussed what needs to be done to improve and find our best level. There was an open debate but I was clear. That is important, and our style is clear. We spent more time than expected."
On the sporting side, the German coach can congratulate himself on having an almost empty injury list. Only Andreas Christensen remains sidelined. As in Friday's session, Gavi returned to activation with his teammates. The player from Los Palacios even stood with a green vest in the center of one of the two rondos set up by the coach at the start of the session and touched the ball — he is still making progress.
The first player to step onto the field after Flick did so alone was Wojciech Szczesny. Then a small group including Pedri, who is expected to play a few minutes this Sunday (4:15 PM) against Levante. With the larger group also appeared Gavi and Marcus Rashford, already recovered and talking on the field with Lamine Yamal. Meanwhile, Raphinha appeared behind one of the goals—an unusual image—but quickly integrated normally with the group.
Flick is recovering his players at a crucial point of the season, where the team needs to start bridging the gap with Real Madrid and reclaim the top spot in the standings, as they have done before. This in La Liga, followed by the challenge of making an epic comeback against Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey, where they are four goals behind, and finally the return of the Champions League with PSG or Newcastle as possible Round of 16 opponents.
