FC Barcelona are back and playing La Liga soccer after the end of the international break as they face Osasuna on Thursday for a rescheduled game that was supposed to take place on March 8 but was suddenly postponed after the death of Barcelona doctor Carles Minarro Garcia a few hours before kickoff. Both teams tried to appeal against the rescheduled date due to the amount of games both sides have on the scheulde and the proximity to the international window, but La Liga have rejected both complaints. 

In particular, the home side will have to deal with the absences of both Brazilian striker Raphinha and Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo as both players were playing in South America on Tuesday night. Raphinha started in the 4-1 defeat against Argentina in Buenos Aires while Araujo featured in the 0-0 draw against Bolivia. 

The side coached by Hansi Flick are currently leading the La Liga table, tied on points with Real Madrid, but with one game in hand, as FC Barcelona will play their 28th La Liga game of the season on Thursday. Over the weekend, Flick’s team will host Girona on Sunday while the team coached by Carlo Ancelotti will host Leganes on Saturday before Barcelona’s tie.  

Here are storylines, how you can watch the match and more:

How to watch and odds

• Date: Thursday, Mar. 27 | Time: 4 p.m. ET
• Location: Estadio Olimpico Lluís Companys — Barcelona, Spain 
• Watch: ESPN+ 
• Odds: Barcelona -360; Draw +500; Osasuna +800

Last meeting

The last time Barcelona and Osasuna met was on September 28, 2024, in a La Liga match at Osasuna’s home stadium, El Sadar. The home side surprisingly won the game 4-2 and ended the perfect start of Barcelona and their new manager. Flick had won all seven La Liga games he was in charge in the 2024-25 season. 

What FC Barcelona are saying

German manager Hansi Flick confirmed both Raphinha and Araujo won’t be included in the squad during the pre-match press conference. “They are coming back via a long journey and it’s not the best recovery. With Araujo unavailable, Flick revealed some details of the lineup against Osasuna: “Inigo and Eric will play and Cubarsi will be on the bench,” said Flick, adding that the place amongst the substitutes for the teenage defender was “best for him to rest a few days, but if we need him, he could come on.”

What Osasuna are saying

Head coach Vicente Moreno addressed the media ahead of the Barcelona game and said: “There is always something that changes, and this will be no different. At the time, we prepared for the game the way we thought was best, and tomorrow we will do the same. More or less, we have a clear idea of what we want to do, knowing that we are facing an opponent that sometimes allows you to execute your plan and sometimes does not—not just us, but most teams. You only have to look at their results in LaLiga and especially at home, where they have achieved significant results.” 

Predicted lineups

FC Barcelona: Szczesny; Kounde, Garcia, Martinez, Balde; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Olmo, Fermin; Lewandowski. 

Osasuna: Herrera; Areso, Catena, Herrando, Cruz; Moncayola, Ibanez, Oroz; Ru. Garcia, Gomez, Budimir. 

Player to watch

Lamine Yamal, FC Barcelona: The Spanish talent will have to put the team on his shoulders as Brazilian striker Raphinha won’t be included in the squad. Yamal has been outstanding this season and already scored six goals in the 24 La Liga games he’s played for the club and he’s also coming from an exciting international break with Spain as he scored a stunning goal against Netherlands in the second leg of the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals, marking once again his importance for the team. 

Storyline to watch

FC Barcelona need to cope with absences: As German manager underlined in the press conference ahead of the game it will be a challenging match for Barcelona as the team will need to cope some key absences, including the ones of Raphinha and Araujo. The Spanish team wanted to avoid to play twice in less than 72 hours after the International break as most of the players were only back on Wednesday in Barcelona and asked LaLiga to postponed the match, but the league has refused such request and the game will go as scheduled on Thursday. However, a Barcelona win can give to the Blaugrana a solid three-point margin on Real Madrid and a seven-point margin on Atletico de Madrid. 

Prediction

The home team are expected to take the full three points on Thursday despite the absences, and put some pressure on their competitors at the top of the table, in particular on Real Madrid who will have to bounce back on Saturday when they will host Leganes at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Pick: FC Barcelona 2, Osasuna 0. 

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