Scheduling Row: Barcelona to File Complaint After Flick Criticizes La Liga

Barcelona have thrown their full support behind head coach Hansi Flick who strongly criticized La Liga’s scheduling ahead of their crucial upcoming matches.

Flick lashed out at the Spanish league for assigning late 9:00 PM kickoff on May 3 against Real Valladolid just 3 days before Barca travel to Italy to face Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League semi final 1st leg on May 6.

Flick “This's joke”

Speaking at press conference, Flick fumed:

“Why're we playing at 9 pm and not at 6? This's joke it hurts spanish football. Other top teams in europe are given time to rest. Whoever makes these decisions clearly doesn’t understand what this means for the players. It’s simply unbelievable”

Club Statement "We fully support Flick"

Barcelona issued official statement on Saturday echoing their manager’s frustration:

“We’ve already expressed our disapproval several times this season regarding the criteria used by la liga and the spanish football federation to set fixture times. We completely support Flick’s comments”

The club added that it plans to file an official complaint with football governing bodies:

“We'll defend our interests to ensure more balanced sporting calendar especially for clubs competing deep into all competitions”

Deco “We tried but we don’t decide”

Sporting director Deco confirmed that Barca requested earlier kickoff but were ignored:

“The match was originally set for Sunday afternoon, then moved to Saturday night. We asked for an earlier time like 6 or 6:30 pm but La Liga decided otherwise. We try but we don’t have the power”

• Barcelona face Celta Vigo this weekend.
• Then they play Real Valladolid on May 3 at 9 PM.
• Just 72 hour later, they take on Inter Milan away in massive UCL semi final.

Khaled Hegazy |

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Journaliste sportif spécialisé dans la couverture du football et la création de contenu numérique, alliant expérience éditoriale et expertise des médias sociaux.