Barcelona coach Flick complains of fixture pile up as they face Osasuna

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick is understandably unhappy with the fact that the club is back in Spanish La Liga action this week just a few hours after the international fixtures have ended.

Barca play tonight, hours after some of its players took part in international matches.

As such, Flick confirmed that winger Raphinha and defender Ronald Araujo will not feature tonight.

The two were involved in South American World Cup qualifying fixtures this week, and Flick said it was better for them to recover from the games and their journey back to Spain.

Barcelona appealed unsuccessfully against the decision to play the Osasuna match this week after it was initially postponed on 8 March when one of the Catalan club's doctors died.

"They will not play, they are not in the team, they have a long flight and it's not the best way, because they have to recover," Flick told a news conference Wednesday.

Raphinha started as Brazil were thrashed 4-1 by rivals Argentina, while Araujo was on the bench for Uruguay in a goalless draw against Bolivia.

Flick said he was upset with the scheduling of the game, as well as another league clash against Leganes late on Saturday, 12 April, ahead of their Champions League quarterfinal second leg clash against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, 15 April.

The German said despite the scheduling of their match against Osasuna, his team will still be capable of claiming three points to extend their lead at the top of LaLiga.

"Always no excuses, we go for it," said Flick.

"We will go for it, I think we have big, big quality in this team. We can win against everyone, even if some players are not in the team. We're looking forward and are very positive."

Barca lead La Liga currently with 60 points and will be hoping to extend their lead to three points over Real Madrid with a win.

Kickoff will be at 11 pm local time.