Hansi Flick has confirmed that Raphinha will miss Barcelona's La Liga trip to Getafe tomorrow, as well as the Champions League clash with Galatasaray. The Brazilian is nursing pain in his right leg.
Sport newspaper carried Flick's press conference remarks, in which he explained that Barcelona are handling Raphinha cautiously to spare the player a fresh setback.
"Raphinha's injury is not serious, however it must be taken into account, because he has suffered many injuries, and we must take care of him," Flick said. "He will not be available tomorrow nor against Galatasaray."
The Brazilian skipped the group's final session before the Getafe game. He went out onto the pitch ahead of his team-mates and worked alone, never joining the collective drills.
"Raphinha's importance in the pressing, can his absence have an impact?" he noted. "Today in training I saw some good things regarding the pressing. They pressed well when they lost the ball, and that is part of our mentality."
Asked about Raphinha taking a different approach on his trips with Brazil, he stressed: "Everyone wishes to play for their country's national team. That is Raphinha's mentality. He always gives his utmost."
Then came an indirect dig at Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti. "We have to think carefully about whether it is necessary for him to play in Australia, and to travel thousands of kilometres," Flick explained. "It is unbelievable. They have to choose the friendly matches, and this is not possible in Europe because of the European Nations League."
"When I was with the German national team, we had the option of going to Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, but that was because there were two or three friendly matches," he continued. "Now it has become impossible. That is normal."
Flick returned to the strain on his squad. "There is great pressure on the players. They do not have matches to see other players and to give rest to those who play more minutes. That is the situation, and we cannot change the schedules," he added.
Spain, by contrast, drew his praise. "I like what I see when I follow the Spanish national team, whether in terms of performance or how the playing minutes are distributed," he added. "The relationship between us is very good. Spain is the best national team in the world, and I like watching it play."
As for who fills the gap, Flick pointed to Gabriel Jesus as a candidate to replace the Samba star in the starting line-up against Getafe.
"Does Jesus start? That is the idea, he has improved a lot, and he fits our style," Flick said. "He is performing very well, I like him, and he is ready."