When Barca's problems lie off the pitch

TPO - Barca would have been in a better position in all competitions this season if they hadn't faced the problem of widespread injuries. And this bad thing was caused by... themselves.

Barca will be without Pedri when they travel to Stamford Bridge for the fifth match of the 2025/26 Champions League qualifying round. The 22-year-old midfielder was absent from training at Ciutat Esportiva on Sunday morning (November 23) as he is still recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered in El Clasico last month. In addition to Pedri, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Gavi will also be at home.

It's a huge blow, but Hansi Flick can't help but accept it. After all, he's used to missing key players at all times. This season, injuries have been a problem for Barca. The bad thing is, for a while, the Catalan club's board thought they had solved this problem.

In the summer of 2024, in addition to the head coach position, Barca also drastically restructured the support team. A new group of coaches and fitness experts was built, headed by Julio Tous, who has experience working at Chelsea, Juventus and Inter. The board expected a significant improvement in the players' physical condition, while increasing the intensity of training sessions, which were considered insufficient under Xavi.

Pedri will miss the match against Chelsea.

In addition, Tous also affirmed that his method will help prevent injuries, that "players' muscles are better prepared to deal with the situations they encounter", and that "the difference can be up to 50%".

After the 2024/25 season, which included a domestic treble (La Liga, Copa del Rey and Supercopa de Espana) and a Champions League semi-final, the Barca board were pleased with Tous’s group. Before this season, they were allowed to be deeply involved in the squad, both overseeing rehabilitation and promoting the reintegration process after injury.

However, up to now, 12 players have suffered 13 injuries at Barca, a significant increase compared to 8 cases at the same period last season. Note that this number does not include those injured in the pre-season, such as goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Barca have suffered 13 injuries this season.

According to The Athletic, many players, including Lamine Yamal, have complained to the Board of Directors about the recovery exercises this season. And they think there is a connection between the Tous method and the rampant injury situation.

As we know, Yamal was diagnosed with a chronic pubic bone injury and needed intensive treatment. Having to live with it for the rest of his life, Yamal needed to maintain a balance between playing and resting. However, when working with Tous, the situation only got worse. Yamal has been off the field 3 times this season, the same as last season, with a total of 45 days off, only 5 days less than the previous season.

During the FIFA Days in October, Yamal left the Spanish national team to return to Barcelona to recover under the supervision of Tous. The 18-year-old was unhappy with the method used by Tous' team and wanted to change to another group of experts.

As for Raphinha, he was forced to leave the match against Real Oviedo on September 25 with a hamstring injury, which was later determined to be minor. However, the injury lasted until the following month, and Raphinha was expected to return for El Clasico at the Bernabeu on October 26. Then, to Flick's shock, just four days before the match, the injury recurred and the 28-year-old was out for another month. Raphinha returned to action in the win over Bilbao last Saturday (November 22) and played the final nine minutes.

Yamal's injury was complicated by improper rehabilitation.

Locker room sources said Raphinha had been given too much training during his recovery, which is believed to have aggravated the injury, and without the player who scored 34 goals in all competitions last season, Barca suffered a disastrous defeat at the Bernabeu.

In this match, Pedri suffered a hamstring tear and of course, the recovery process was taken care of by Tous. From the case of Yamal and Raphinha, many meetings took place to review and re-evaluate. Finally, Barca decided to remove Tous and his colleagues from their assigned work, only doing daily physical preparation.

Will things get better and the injury crisis not recur? It is difficult to say because, as revealed by The Athletic, the Barca backstage is more complicated than people think when there is a clique in the medical and fitness team. A lot of conflicting advice is given for a specific case, leading to difficulties for Flick when drafting the team as well as the potential risk of injury when players are given inaccurate advice.

That's why, a person close to the coaching staff lamented, "Barca is the number one team in the world when it comes to... self-harm". Otherwise, they would be in a better position on all fronts than they are now.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/khi-van-de-cua-barca-nam-ben-ngoai-san-co-post1799115.tpo