Flick relying on experience in Barca injury crisis
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick will rely on his experienced players as the Blaugrana navigate an injury crisis early on in his first campaign at the helm.
A perfect seven wins from as many matches in LaLiga this season means Barca could match the best start in its league history when it visits Osasuna on Sunday (AEST).
Only once has Barca won its first eight matches to start a league campaign, doing so in 2013-2014 under Gerardo Martino but ultimately finishing second to Atletico Madrid that season.
Flick's impressive start at Camp Nou has come despite injuries biting at his squad, with goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen the latest casualty having undergone knee surgery this week.
He has joined Dani Olmo, Gavi, Frenkie de Jong, Ronald Araujo, Fermin Lopez and Andreas Christensen in the treatment room, while Inigo Martinez is doubtful after suffering an injury against Getafe in midweek.
De Jong and Gavi are closing in on returns, but Flick is confident in his team's ability to cope in their absence.
"This is about quality of the players. They are very well prepared and train with so much passion and mentality," Flick said. "Evidently, as we did before, there will be some rotations.
"But also it's important the experienced players are with us, like Raphinha and [Robert] Lewandowski. Inigo received a blow, so we will see how that is.
"From what I see in training, [De Jong] is in good shape, also Gavi picking up the pace.
"Frenkie is very close to returning. Tomorrow he will have a rest because he needs it, he trained a lot."
The return of De Jong, who most recently played in April, could be a major boost for Barcelona as it braces for a tough October, when it hosts Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League three days before visiting Real Madrid in LaLiga.
"De Jong is an experienced player and he can help us greatly, even if he plays 20 minutes, but we will see what happens next week," Flick said.
Flick was also asked what it would mean to equal Barca's best start to a season, but the German is focused purely on the task of overcoming Osasuna.
"It's always great to win though we aren't focusing on the record," he said.
"From 11 points, Osasuna have won 10 points at home, where the crowd really gets behind them and I like that atmosphere.
Meanwhile, Barca has been banned from selling tickets for its next UEFA Champions League away game, at Red Star Belgrade on 7 November (AEST) after its supporters were found guilty of racist behaviour during the match against Monaco.
