Barcelona set to play rearranged Osasuna clash DURING the international break with key players set to miss out

Barcelona were originally scheduled to face Osasuna on March 8, but minutes before the players came out on the pitch, they heard about the death of their team doctor Minarro Garcia. The tragic news left the players devastated and subsequently, the team captains asked for the game to be called off.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), as reported by SER Catalunya, has decided to hold the match on March 27, just a few days after the players finish their international commitments. Barca's Spanish national team stars are likely to be available for the game as the second leg of their Nations League quarter-final clash against the Netherlands will be played on March 23, four days before the La Liga encounter. However, South American stars like Raphinha and Ronald Araujo will likely miss the game. Raphinha will play his final qualifying match for Brazil against arch-rivals Argentina on March 25, while Araujo's Uruguay face Bolivia earlier the same day.

The RFEF has also confirmed that both clubs do not want to play the game immediately after the international break as they said: "Also complying with the established deadline, but in a different sense to the LNFP, the interested Clubs have expressed their preference to play the match between the penultimate and last matchdays of the league, matchdays 37 and 38, claiming that this option minimises conflicts with the call-ups of players to national teams."

The Spanish federation, however, has cited the Eighth Provision of the Regulatory Rules and Competition Bases of the National First Division Championship, which suggests that rearranged matches should be conducted on a date closest to the original date of the game, as reported Cadena SER.