Advantage Real Madrid? Inside Barcelona's fixture nightmare as controversially rearranged Osasuna clash threatens to hurt Hansi Flick's La Liga title bid

During the build-up to Barca's first meeting with Osasuna this season, Flick felt compelled to freshen things up. His Blaugrana side had made a stunning start to their Liga campaign, winning their first seven matches, and scoring 23 times in the process.

However, Flick knew that one of Barca's biggest problems under his predecessor, Xavi Hernandez, had been their costly propensity for fading during the final quarter of games.

Club president Joan Laporta had even stated last summer, "Flick knows that the players need to be prepared better physically."

Rotation, then, was always going to be essential, especially due to the demanding nature of the German's tactical game-plan, which relies heavily on intensive pressing.

So, after spotting the first signs of fatigue in a laboured 1-0 victory over Getafe on September 25, Flick decided to drop some of his regular starters to the bench for the game away to Osasuna three days later.

Unfortunately, Barca were outplayed in Pamplona, losing 4-2 despite the second-half introductions of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha - but Flick felt he'd been left with no other option.

"We made a lot of mistakes, we made a lot of rotations to the team and maybe that's one reason why, but they were necessary, as there are a lot of games and a lot of minutes already accumulated," the German coach explained to reporters.

"I told the team that I am responsible. It's my responsibility to take care of the players, and some of them had played too many minutes. Their rest was required."

In that context, MARCA's claim that Flick is fuming right now seems perfectly plausible.

Raphinha has been Barca's player of the season so far, with the Brazil international's 27 goals and 18 assists having put him in pole position to win this year's Ballon d'Or.

The versatile winger has also started more games than any of his team-mates (41) and has emerged as one of the Blaugrana's most influential figures on and off the field, particularly in the injury-enforced absence of club captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Consequently, Raphinha missing his first game of the entire campaign would represent a major blow for Barca.

Araujo's possible absence would be less keenly felt as Barca coped brilliantly without the Uruguay defender while he was sidelined with hamstring trouble - thanks in no small part to Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez.

However, both centre-backs have had their own fitness issues and there's no guarantee that either man will be in optimal condition for the Osasuna game, which is far from ideal in the circumstances.

Barca may be top of La Liga with a game in hand over second-placed Real Madrid but the two great rivals are only separated by goal difference.

Any slip-up, against Osasuna on Thursday, Girona on Sunday or Betis on Saturday week could prove very costly and eradicate the advantage the Catalans currently hold over the second-placed Blancos, who don't return to Liga action until Saturday night, when they host Leganes at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Depressingly, that has led to utterly unfounded and incredibly distasteful accusations within Catalunya that the allegedly pro-Madrid footballing authorities were effectively taking advantage of the tragic death of team doctor Carles Minarro Garcia, which necessitated the postponement of the original Osasuna fixture on March 7, to impose an even more gruelling schedule upon Barca.

Barca had proposed a series of alternative dates in April and May and both clubs were reportedly in agreement that a midweek clash during the penultimate and final games of the season would be the best solution for everyone concerned.

However, their joint-appeal against the RFEF's ruling was rejected on the grounds that any postponed match must be rescheduled for the first available date to protect the integrity of the league.

In addition, the Spanish game's governing body pointed out that both sides would have sufficient players to fulfil the fixture and highlighted that some of the alternative dates suggested could have been impacted by other competitions, including the Champions League, with Barca widely expected to reach the semi-finals at the expense of Borussia Dortmund.

Putting the game on Thursday was also allowed as it falls outside the designated March international window, which closed on Tuesday night.

Of course, the rights and wrongs of the RFEF's postponement protocols and procedures are of little concern to Flick now. He just has to deal with the consequences as best he can.

Barca being at home on Thursday night is unquestionably a help and it should also be noted that their following two fixtures, against Girona and Real Betis, will also be played at the Montjuic. Furthermore, Osasuna have won just three times in La Liga since beating the Blaugrana back in September, so, as games go, Flick couldn't have hoped for a softer one after the international break.

Still, Spain's Nations League last-eight second leg against Netherlands going all the way to penalties on Sunday night was not good news for the concerned coach, as the 17-year-old Yamal played all 120 minutes of the 3-3 draw in Valencia (before missing a penalty in the shootout!), while Dani Olmo, Pedri and Ferran Torres also featured.

It's also worth remembering that Barca have to play Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final on Tuesday and that promises to be another intense encounter (the first leg ended 4-4, while their Liga meeting 10 days ago finished 4-2 to Barca), which could make the subsequent trip to Seville to face Betis even trickier.

Admittedly, this doesn't feel like the make-or-break point of the Catalans' campaign. It's hard to shake the suspicion that the title race will probably only really be decided when Barca host Madrid on May 11.

However, this run of four games in nine days could well play a pivotal part in determining what shape Flick's players are in by the time that crucial Clasico rolls around. Osasuna have already upset an exhausted Barca once this season; the Liga leaders can ill-afford to let it happen again.