Barca will play in honour of late doctor, says Flick

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said his team will face Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday playing for club doctor Carles Minarro, who died on Saturday.

The Catalan giants hold a 1-0 lead in the last 16 tie from the first leg in Lisbon ahead of the clash at the Olympic Stadium.

Barcelona’s La Liga match on Saturday against Osasuna was postponed 20 minutes before kick-off after the 53-year-old doctor died that afternoon.

“It’s a huge loss, Carles was a really great person, but also a great doctor, and this combination of Ricard (Pruna, another club doctor) and him was unbelievable for the club and for the team,” Flick told a news conference Monday.

“(He was) one of the big puzzle (pieces) for the success, because they are doing a great job, and we miss him, but it’s also life. I think he will support us from above.

“The team also, we want to play… for him. Now in this situation, it’s very important that we win, and this is the focus, what we want to do tomorrow.”

Doctor Minarro had been working with different Barcelona sides since 2017, and began working with the men’s football first team a few months ago.

Barcelona beat Benfica 5-4 in Lisbon in the group stage and then again with 10 men for most of the game last week after Pau Cubarsi was sent off.

However Flick said his squad would not take progress to the quarter-finals as a given, with Benfica beating Juventus on the road in the group stage and thrashing Atletico Madrid at home.

“None of us thinks that it’s done, and this is the important thing,” continued the coach.

“Their away matches in the Champions League, they are doing really great, they won a lot of matches away. So we have to think about that and take care.”