Barça's clash with Spain: much more than just Flick's warm-up

BarcelonaLooking unfriendly, but solicitous of the fans who came up to greet him, Dani Olmo arrived in Barcelona this Saturday from the Spanish national team's training camp. While he will undergo tests in the coming days to determine the extent of a soleus injury, Barça are certain that the Egarense midfielder won't be able to play much in the next stretch of the competition. It will take between three weeks and a month to heal and, therefore, he will miss the first Clásico of the season.

On paper, Olmo is another victim of the FIFA virus because he left the Barça dynamic more or less healthy and will return to Sant Joan Despí injured. His absence will cause a new headache for Hansi Flick, who has been on medical leave in recent weeks. Furthermore, the German coach is coming off a significant malaise from the September international break, in which Luis de la Fuente, the coach of the red, of "not taking care" of Lamine Yamal, who has been suffering from groin pain for weeks. Now, the coach is directly distancing himself from the version released by the RFEF, which admitted the player was fatigued, as reported by Barça. "Dani arrived in perfect condition; there was no report," the Basque coach maintains.

The Olmo incident adds complexity to the clash of interests between Barça and the Spanish national team. It's no secret that the Blaugrana hold much of the hopes of a team that has just won the European Championship and will be among the favorites at the next World Cup. This encourages De la Fuente to empty Flick's dressing room for each international call-up, but at the same time, given the expectations of victory, it forces players (especially those who aren't 100% guaranteed a place in the final squad for the World Cup) to make extra efforts to be called up for matches and to be at their best, even in Bulgaria. This is the case with Olmo, who despite being fatigued in the two demanding matches against PSG and Sevilla, went with Spain to avoid triggering FOMO (the fear of missing out). His body would have appreciated rest and specific training at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, but he ended up busting out for the national team in the first demanding session.

In the Barça locker room, they are pointing to Olmo's recklessness at a particularly critical time for the infirmary, with key players like Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, and Fermín recently affected by muscle injuries, and Joan Garcia, Ter Stegen, and Gavi far (or very far) from being available to Flick again. In this context of limited personnel, Barça cannot understand why Olmo agreed to increase the intensity of his training sessions with Spain if he noticed an overload in his left calf muscle. There is some bewilderment at the club over the fact that this is a player who should be more aware of his high propensity for muscle injuries and who, due to the absences in midfield, has played more than usual. This season, due to the absences in the attacking midfield, he has now played three matches until the 90th minute, two of them consecutively (against Getafe and Oviedo in La Liga). He only played one full season last season: against Betis in the Copa del Rey. The warning was quite forceful.

Poor communication with the RFEF

Aside from Olmo, there is also some indignation with the Spanish national team's coaches, and specifically with Fernando Galán, a recovery coach who is part of De la Fuente's team and who also works as an external consultant for some Barça players. As happened a few weeks ago with Lamine Yamal, the club regrets that this multiple employment does not serve to improve communication with the RFEF, but rather the opposite. The recent conversation between Barça's sporting director, Deco, and his counterpart at the RFEF has not worked out very well either. redAitor Karanka. In fact, Dean Huijsen was called up to the squad in a very similar situation to Olmo's, but the Real Madrid defender was dropped from the squad to go to Valdebebas to be treated by the club's doctors. He noticed the discomfort early and will be recovered in ten to fifteen days. He will play in the Clásico.

On the other hand, Olmo has been injured for a month, which will keep him out of five official matches once tests confirm the initial diagnosis given to the national team. Barça is very attentive to the workloads of the international players who are currently scattered around the world. Each of them travels with homework to complete and reports on their physical condition. However, such foresight is no guarantee of 100% success.