Barcelona's International Break Concerns: Raphinha's Fitness at Stake

Hansi Flick feels it in the pit of his stomach.

The international break has only just begun, and Barcelona’s head coach is already counting heads, flights and minutes, knowing how fragile a season can become in two weeks of national team football.

“I feel anxious when the players leave, but I trust the national team coaches and I try to stay positive,” he admitted a few days ago. The words were calm. The mood inside the club is anything but.

Seventeen gone, one already sidelined

According to Marca, 17 Barcelona players have packed their bags for international duty. It was supposed to be 18. Andreas Christensen never made it that far. A problem in his left thigh muscle has ruled him out of Denmark’s squad and kept him in Barcelona.

The club insists there is no panic. The players are in excellent shape, physically primed after a strong start under Flick. But anxiety hangs over the training ground. Matches squeezed into a crowded calendar, long-haul flights, time-zone swings – all of it threatens that carefully built fitness.

The coaching staff have seen this film before. Too many times.

Raphinha, for one, knows the route from Barcelona to Brazil and back all too well, sometimes with a limp at the end of it. Others have suffered the same fate.

Spain well stocked with blaugrana

Seven of those 17 are with Spain under Luis de la Fuente: Pau Cubarsí, Eric García, Rodri, Pedri, Fermín, Dani Olmo and Lamine Yamal. A core of Barcelona talent at the heart of La Roja’s plans.

They will run into a familiar face in their clash with Croatia. Dominik Livaković, another Barça player away with his country, will be on the opposite side.

The conveyor belt continues at youth level. Xavi Espart and Marc Bernal have joined Spain’s under-21s for Euro 2027 qualifying, a demanding triple-header against Finland, San Marino and Romania. Three games, three chances for progress – and three more dates circled in red on Barcelona’s risk calendar.

Call-ups everywhere, concern focused on one

The list of departures stretches across Europe and beyond.

• Karim Adeyemi has been recalled by Germany for their matches against Serbia and Greece after a spell out of the national setup.
• Raphinha flies with Brazil.
• João Cancelo links up with Portugal.
• Anthony Gordon joins England.
• Jules Koundé reports for France.
• Hamza Abdelkarim travels with Egypt.
• Dean Bisseck heads to the Belgium under-21s.

The squad is scattered. The concern, though, narrows sharply onto one name.

Raphinha.

He is the most in-form player in Flick’s squad, a forward in full flight with 14 goals in eight matches. He is the spark in Barcelona’s attack, the player who has turned tight games and carried their threat.

He is also the one whose itinerary makes the medical staff wince. Long distances, heavy minutes, and a track record that offers little comfort.

Scars from previous breaks

Raphinha, like Lamine Yamal, Gavi and Frenkie de Jong, has a history of coming back from international duty with more than just fatigue.

The most recent warning sign came at the World Cup, when he suffered pain in the tendons of his right knee. Months earlier, in March, he had already been forced out of a Brazil–France friendly in the United States with an injury in the same area. He was dropped from the squad and sent straight back to Barcelona.

The cost was five weeks on the sidelines.

Last season, a series of scattered injuries chipped away at his availability, breaking his rhythm just as he threatened to explode. Flick and the club see the version of Raphinha currently on the pitch and know exactly what is at stake. They want him back in one piece, and they want him back quickly.

Because the danger is not just the 90 minutes.

The flights matter. The fatigue matters. The accumulated strain of crossing the Atlantic, training, playing, returning, and then being asked to perform again in La Liga and Europe – it all adds up. Quietly at first, then suddenly.

Laporta’s warning on a crowded calendar

Inside the club, the frustration has reached the president’s office. At Saturday’s general assembly, Joan Laporta did not hide his irritation with the timing and intensity of the break.

“This break affects the rhythm of our preparations. It harms us greatly. We have to keep fighting and find the right balance. There are many competitions, the Conference League and the Nations League ... the schedule is extremely crowded,” he told the members.

It was more than a complaint. It was a warning.

Laporta also revealed his intention to speak with international football organisations about the load being placed on elite players. Barcelona are not alone in this battle, but few clubs send out as much of their core in one go, across so many time zones and competitions.

For Flick, the next fortnight is about waiting, watching and hoping. For Barcelona, the real question is no longer whether their players will shine on the international stage.

It is how many of them will still be standing when they come back.