Barcelona Prepares for International Break After Victory Over Sevilla

Barcelona head into this strange, stretched international break with exactly what they wanted: a statement win and a calm horizon.

Hansi Flick’s side walked out of the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán with a 3-1 victory over Sevilla, a result that neatly seals off this early phase of the season before the squad scatters around the globe. The football stops. The planning doesn’t.

Flick left with a skeleton group

One of the big unknowns was how Flick would handle an international window that runs longer than usual. The answer is now clear – and it underlines just how stripped-back things will be at the Ciutat Esportiva.

According to SPORT, the German coach will have only six first-team players to work with over the coming days: Gavi, Gerard Martin, Alejandro Balde, Gabriel Jesus, Brian Farinas and Wojciech Szczesny.

That list does not include the injured trio Joan Garcia, Andreas Christensen and Frenkie de Jong. They will remain at the training ground, but on a different schedule, focused solely on their recovery programmes rather than Flick’s tactical drills.

For a club of Barcelona’s size, it is a remarkably small core. Yet it also offers something rare in a congested calendar: time and space for tailored work.

Four sessions, then silence

The plan is tight and simple.

Barcelona will train from Tuesday through Friday with that reduced group. After that, the club effectively shuts down. The players staying in Catalonia will be off from 28 September until 4 October, with the full squad due back on 5 October, once international duty is over.

So Flick gets four sessions to drill details with six outfielders and a goalkeeper, then a full week where the training pitches fall quiet. For a coach still imprinting his ideas, it is both a limitation and a chance to focus on individuals in a way impossible when 25 players crowd the pitch.

Gavi refuses to rest

Monday was marked down as a rest day. No full training. No Flick at the Ciutat Esportiva.

Gavi turned up anyway.

The midfielder chose to train voluntarily, working on his own while most of his teammates stayed away. Joan Garcia and Christensen were also present, continuing their rehabilitation work as they edge back from injury.

Fermin Lopez made only a brief appearance, dropping in to collect belongings before heading out again. The real collective work resumes on Tuesday, when Flick gathers the small group that remains and starts the short, intense block of sessions before the week-long pause.

Two very different breaks

For those staying in Barcelona, this is a rare luxury: a long rest in late September, a chance to reset legs and minds before the season tightens.

Raphinha’s reality could not be more different.

The Brazilian leaves for national team duty at the peak of his Barcelona form, fresh from a hat-trick against Sevilla and sitting on top of the La Liga scoring charts. His reward is not rest, but miles.

He will fly almost halfway around the world with Brazil, who are set to play two matches in Australia before heading on to India for another friendly. Three games, long flights, different time zones – then straight back into a season that, for him, has already started at full speed.

Barcelona will hope he returns with the same rhythm, the same edge, and nothing more than jet lag.