Barcelona have announced that they will be lodging a formal complaint against La Liga with the game’s governing bodies after Hansi Flick hit out at the Spanish giants’ gruelling schedule on Friday.
Flick, 60, let rip in a press conference ahead of this weekend’s fixture against Celta Vigo. In an extraordinary rant, the German hit out at the fact Barca were being forced to play earlier in the day – rather than a late kick-off – after booking their spot in the Champions League semi-finals away at Borussia Dortmund in the week, branding the decision “a joke”.
Their progression in the Champions League means Barcelona are now competing on three fronts ahead of the Copa del Rey final later this month. And not only have the club now followed Flick’s lead in speaking out, they have revealed they intend to make a formal complaint against La Liga.
A statement read: “FC Barcelona has already this season expressed its disagreement with the criteria set out by the Spanish Football League (LFP) and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) with regards to dates and kick off times for the first team.
“We consider, as expressed on Friday by our coach to whom we give our total support and with whom we are in complete agreement, that governing bodies of Spanish Football should be more considerate with teams, such as ours, who are taking part in all three competitions in the final part of the season.
“This is not a new problem, and without making light of the difficulty of organised a fixture list with so many matches, FC Barcelona will continue to defend its interests in front of the national and international organising bodies of football so that the sporting calendar makes more sense.
“As such, FC Barcelona will make a formal complaint to the regulatory bodies of football with the aim of avoiding situations that may be to the detriment of the real stars in the world of football, the players.”
Flick expressed his frustrations after the last international break ahead of Barca’s scheduled fixture against Osasuna. Since then, the La Liga leaders have played a staggering eight matches in just 23 days.
Despite their complaints over the schedule, Barcelona pulled off a seismic victory at the Nou Camp in their match with Celta Vigo, which ended 4-3 after Raphinha converted a 98th minute penalty.
The result puts Barcelona six points ahead of Real Madrid at the La Liga summit, though Los Blancos have played one game less than their bitter rivals.
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