Before the Supercopa semi-finals
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Before the duels for the Spanish Supercopa, FC Barcelona coach Hansi Flick does not assume that Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor will be allowed to play in the short term. “I don’t expect that we can count on them on Wednesday, but we have to wait and see,” said Flick at a press conference before the semi-final against Athletic Bilbao (8:00 p.m.), which is taking place in Saudi Arabia for marketing reasons.
“The only thing we can do at the moment is wait,” emphasized the 59-year-old. “Dani Olmo is an excellent player, of course we miss him.” Like the league before it, the Spanish football association RFEF had denied the massively indebted club registration for both Olmo and Víctor.
As the Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo reported, Barça wanted to appeal to the National Sports Council (CSD) and possibly also to the Administrative Court for Sport (TAD). It initially remained unclear whether the Spanish runner-up could be successful.
Flick hopes that his team will emerge stronger from the posse. “We have to show that we are a team,” demanded the former national coach. We now have to move closer together. For the coach, it’s about the first title with the Catalans in Saudi Arabia. If his team wins against Bilbao, they will face either RCD Mallorca or arch-rivals Real Madrid in the final on Sunday. The Madrilenians want to make it to the final on Thursday. All games will take place in Jeddah.
Raphinha raises the alarm about Olmo posse
Raphinha spoke more openly than his coach about the registration prank surrounding Olmo. This could deter other players from joining the Catalans in the future. “I think so. I can’t say: no. Then I would be lying. And I’m not one who likes to lie or tell stories. If I were at another club and saw the situation Dani and Pau are in, I might consider coming here. But when I came, I knew the situation at the club and that my chance of wearing this jersey was one percent. “I waited until the last moment and I don’t regret anything,” said vice-captain Raphinha, according to “Barcawelt”.
The Brazilian emphasized that the current situation is not easy for the rest of the team either. “It’s difficult for us because we don’t know whether we can count on them or not. And also for them, because they don’t know whether they can play or not. It’s a complicated and sensitive situation, but we’re trying to make it not so difficult for them. We hope that those responsible can resolve this as quickly as possible so that they can play for us again. We have to trust that this will be resolved quickly.” They would usually only find out about new developments from the press. “Often we only know what you know.”
