Hansi Flick cancels Barcelona training session after three-team friendly tournament

Hansi Flick has changed Barcelona’s pre-season schedule by cancelling Sunday morning’s training session, with the squad now due to return to work on Monday at the club’s sports city.

The decision follows Barcelona’s participation in a three-team friendly tournament and is intended to give the players a period of rest after the end of the fourth week of their preparations for the new season.

According to Sport, Flick and his coaching staff decided to remove the session from the programme before beginning the final phase of pre-season. The adjustment reflects the club’s focus on managing the players’ physical workload as the start of the league campaign approaches.

Barcelona finished second in the tournament after beating Nottingham Forest and losing to Udinese.

Flick said after the competition: “I was not completely happy with the training performance on Friday, but the team’s level in the matches was better.”

He added: “We did not show our best, but that is normal given the intensity of the training, especially with many young players involved.”

The Barcelona manager’s comments came after a demanding period of preparation in which the coaching staff have been assessing the squad while also trying to avoid injuries. The decision to cancel Sunday’s workout will allow the players to recover before the team resumes training on Monday.

Barcelona are also expecting their international players to join the squad during the week after recently completing their international commitments. Their return will give Flick a fuller group to work with as he moves closer to deciding which players will form part of the final squad.

The club is expected to reduce the number of young players who have featured during pre-season. Flick will therefore use the coming training sessions to assess the remaining options and settle on his final selection for the new campaign.

The latest change is part of Barcelona’s broader effort to reach peak fitness before the opening match of the season. With the friendly tournament now complete, the coaching staff will concentrate on balancing intense preparation with recovery, while integrating the returning internationals and making the final decisions over the squad.

Barcelona’s second-place finish offered mixed results, with victory against Nottingham Forest followed by defeat by Udinese. Flick acknowledged that the team’s match performances were stronger than its work in training on Friday, although he also pointed to the heavy workload and the involvement of a large number of young players as factors affecting the squad’s level.

The Catalan club will now enter the final stage of its preparations with Flick aiming to ensure the players are ready physically and tactically before the league campaign begins.