Barcelona have made right-back one of their priorities for the summer transfer window, and while they have not settled on whom they will move for, various members of the current squad have been impressed by one of their targets.

The player in question is Rayo Vallecano and Romania full-back Andrei Ratiu, who is enjoying his best season yet in Vallecas. After arriving from Huesca (who have a 50% sell-on clause), Ratiu has gradually displaced Ivan Balliu on the right flank, standing out for his pace and imposing physique. His ability to go past players and his prowess in the final third have also brought many an admiring glance.

Flick: “Real Madrid’s complaints about their 72-hour rest period? We are Barça, not Real Madrid. And I’m proud that we are Barça.”

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 26, 2025

Including from the Barcelona squad, say MD. They note that many in the Blaugrana dressing room admire his attitude against the likes of Raphinha or Vinicius Junior, and his attacking output too. Ratiu’s performances have been commented on in conversations, and more than one Barcelona player has the Romanian in their fantasy team.

Barcelona will not be alone if they decide to pursue him, with Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League supposedly interested in him. Ratiu has a €25m release clause, and many believe he will leave Vallecas this summer.

Of course the conversations that matter in terms of a move take place between Hansi Flick and Director of Football Deco, and it appears that other options have convinced the Barcelona duo more than Ratiu this season. Equally, Deco is currently uncertain on what, if any, budget he will have to work with in the summer, and thus there is a good chance that Barcelona do not sign their first choice to compete with Jules Kounde. This season Ratiu has two goals and three assists in his 27 appearances under Inigo Perez, but has become one of their most consistent performers.

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Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso could probably walk into any top vacant job in European football this summer, but the one job he wants remains shrouded in uncertainty until the end of the season. The Basque manager is heavily tipped to take over from Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid, the club he was at as a player and then started off his coaching career as under-19s manager.

Ancelotti has a contract until 2026, but Real Madrid may decide to dismiss him if he does not bring home the Liga title or the Champions League this season. However they will not make a decision on the final year of his deal until that becomes clear. Although Alonso is widely believed to be his successor, and there has been contact between Los Blancos and his camp, Bayer Leverkusen are keen to get an answer out of Alonso so they can continue planning for next season.

Alonso also has a contract until the end of next season, but there is an agreement with  CEO Fernando Carro that he can leave if Real Madrid come calling. According to Diario AS, Alonso will declare his plans for next season in a press conference at 14:30 CEST on Thursday, where he will take questions from the media about Leverkusen’s clash with VfL Bochum. They also say that it has been leaked that Alonso will announce that he is staying at the German club next season.

If Alonso should leave, then he risks essentially waiting for Ancelotti to fail be it this season or next. However should he stay at Leverkusen and Ancelotti be sacked this summer, then Los Blancos may look for another option, at which point Alonso’s plans would be at the mercy of the new coach’s success too. Equally it is far from an ideal summer to take over, with the Club World Cup meaning he likely wouldn’t be able to start work until well into July.

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Northern Ireland do not begin their World Cup qualifying campaign until September 4 but Michael O’Neill will already have a starting XI for the trip to Luxembourg in his mind.

Paddy McNair does not believe Tuesday’s 5-1 friendly defeat to Sweden will drain the confidence of the Northern Ireland youngsters.

As the Northern Ireland players left the Strawberry Arena on Tuesday night, the key message in media interviews was that they had to learn from the 5-1 defeat in Sweden.

Real Madrid have struggled with injuries at the back this season, and while that has led to a number of difficulties in games for Carlo Ancelotti, the emergence of Raul Asencio has been one positive to come out of it.

The 22-year-old was originally not even Carlo Ancelotti’s first choice to be promoted from the Castilla side, with 17-year-old Joan Martinez and Jacobo Ramon originally ahead of him in the pecking order. As with the first team though, injuries cleared the way for him to have his shot in the first team, and solid from the off, Asencio took that chance with both hands.

The idea of going through the last two months without Asencio’s aggression and security does not bear thinking of for Madridistas, with Asencio now racking up 29 appearances in total, despite not making his debut until November. Although David Alaba is now back and fully fit following his 13-month recovery from a knee injury, based on form at the very least, Asencio will see out the season alongside Antonio Rudiger as the first choice in front of Thibaut Courtois.

Asencio will be around for a while – multiple reports claim that Los Blancos have reached an agreement to extend his contract by five years, until 2029, doubling his release clause to €100m. While Real Madrid have a clause in his contract to extend it by five years that they could trigger automatically, figures from Marca claim that Asencio will also receive a €6.2m salary from next year, a figure that will rise year on year to €9m per annum by the end of his contract.

Meanwhile there is plenty of speculation over the future of Real Madrid’s backline. Asencio earned his first call up for Spain earlier this month, but did not feature due to form of Dean Huijsen, who came on for the injured Pau Cubarsi and then started against the Netherlands. Los Blancos are seemingly in the race to sign the €60m defender too.

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Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has ruled out Raphinha and Ronald Araujo from their clash with Osasuna, despite them both racing back from international duty with Brazil and Uruguay respectively. Araujo did not feature for the Celeste in their 0-0 draw with Bolivia, but Raphinha played a full 90 minutes in Brazil’s 4-1 beatdown at the hands of Argentina.

Flick noted that being unsure of Araujo’s condition though, he would not risk either player at Montjuic on Thursday night. Both are flying back to Barcelona today.

“They have a long flight and it’s not the best way to recover. Ronald didn’t play in the last game, but after his injury, we don’t know how he trained. We’ll see what happens on Sunday. We have a good team, and what I’ve seen in training has been positive. We have to fight for the three points. If we win tomorrow, it will be a good reaction.”

Meanwhile Pau Cubarsi is coming off an ankle injury suffered on Spain duty, while Inigo Martinez was ruled out of action for La Roja before the break after a knee issue. The former returned to training on Wednesday, while Martinez was back in action from Monday.

“Eric [Garcia] and Inigo will play as center backs. Pau will be on the bench. It’s better for him to have a couple more days because he needs it. The injury isn’t serious, but it’s good that he has more days. If we had needed him, he would have played.”

No doubt Flick would have been irritated to see Pedri, Ferran Torres and Jules Kounde all participate in extra time for Spain and France respectively in the Nations League too.

Raphinha endured a nightmare at the Monumental as Brazil suffered their worst-ever World Cup qualifier defeat, losing 4-1 to Argentina. @joaquimpiera

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 26, 2025

“I’m only thinking about this week. The players from Spain, France, and the Netherlands need to recover. Today they had their first full session. This is how it is, and it’s not the best situation for them, but they’re professionals. I’m really happy with them, I didn’t notice any difference from those players, they trained really well. This team is incredible; they recover very well and are professional.”

There has also been an injury doubt over Robert Lewandowski, who came off the bench for Poland on Tuesday night against Malta. He had stated that he felt in better shape than when the international break started.

“He’s ready to play, we’ll decide tomorrow if he starts. He feels good, and it’s a good situation for us. Ferran is also in really good shape, so it’s really good news.”

The headline from the press conference was undoubtedly written in his first answer though, as he complained about the scheduling in Spain, feeling other countries protect their teams more. Aside from Araujo and Raphinha, it does look as if Flick will have all of the players that left on international duty available to take on Osasuna at 21:00 CEST on Thursday.

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Barcelona manager Hansi Flick started off with a pointed statement about the scheduling of games in Spanish football ahead of their clash with Osasuna on Thursday night. The Blaugrana’s postponed fixture was rearranged, with some of their players coming back with less than 48 hours between their international fixtures.

The Blaugrana will also have just 65 hours rest between their game against Osasuna and their Sunday clash with Girona. It was immediately the first talking point in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

“The players have played with their teams, and now it is time for us to play tomorrow. After we have Leganes away at 21:00, so we play late, we arrive late. It’s always this way when we play away. We will have little rest.”

“It’s to do with the recovery of the players. I’m not happy about this. You see other leagues, how they handle it, with the Champions League, it’s completely different. It’s not about Real Madrid vs Barca, it’s about protecting Spanish teams so they can have success.”

“But we cannot change it, we will play and I’ve always said there are no excuses. The team is ready, and we can win every game. Now I’m thinking positively about this.”

Both Barcelona and Osasuna appealed the decision to arrange the game so quickly after the international break, instead seeking a date later in the season, with no little frustration. Flick was asked for his reaction.

“I don’t want to speak about my reaction, it’s not good. We have to accept it. That’s how they decided. We can’t change it. It’s UEFA or FIFA’s job to decide whether the players can rest. Maybe that’s the only option, for them to say two or three days rest. In the end, that’s how it is. La Liga has given the go-ahead.”

He was also in favour of eliminating extra time from the Nations League.

“Yes. We have to think about it. 30 minutes less is quite a lot. The players have a lot of matches, but the decision is up to UEFA or FIFA.”

Flick: “If we beat Osasuna, it will have been the perfect response to this situation.”

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 26, 2025

However he eased his tone towards the end of the press conference, looking to spin to the optimistic side of things. It was put to Flick that Barcelona will play seven games in 20 days.

“I spoke with my staff and we discussed what we could do to get the players back in shape. They told me the players are ready and that playing every three days isn’t too much for them. They say the players are good. I choose to trust them, and we’ll see what happens.”

Barcelona take on Osasuna at 21:00 CEST on Thursday night at 21:00 CEST, before hosting Girona at home as well on Sunday afternoon at 16:15 CEST. Circled in red will be their Copa del Rey semi-final return leg though on Wednesday, as they look for a second victory at the Metropolitano following a 4-4 draw in the first leg.

The post “I’m not happy about it, it’s not about Real Madrid v Barcelona” – Hansi Flick on Osasuna fixture appeared first on Football España.

Michael O’Neill has explained why he didn’t give Ronan Hale his senior Northern Ireland debut in the 5-1 defeat away to Sweden on Tuesday night.

Barcelona Director of Football Deco has barely paused between contract renewals since the beginning of 2025, and a significant proportion of the current squad have now agreed to or held talks over a new deal in the last three months. The latest to be involved in discussions is youngster Pablo Torre.

Something that comes as a surprise, given his lack of minutes with the first team. Torre, 21, has impressed when given the chance, averaging a goal contribution every 53 minutes across his 12 appearances this season, but with just 373 minutes, those chances have been few and far between. With Gavi and Fermin Lopez struggling for minutes ahead of him, it is no surprise that he has seen little game time though.

Barcelona are considering restructuring Ansu Fati’s contract using the ‘Umtiti Formula’ to reduce his financial impact on the club. Barça could extend his deal until 2030, spreading his wages over five years. @sport

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 26, 2025

With his contract up in 2026 though, it had been expected that Barcelona would look to sell Torre this summer, but Sport now say that Deco has opened talks with his agents over an extension. The Blaugrana are keen to offer him a one-year extension until 2027, although he does not accept it, then they will look to move him on this year.

Their plan is for Torre to leave on loan in the summer to another La Liga club, where he can increase his value, get game time, and potentially even earn a spot on his return to the club in 2026. There is full faith from the club that he has the talent to become a  quality player, but the opportunities at the club are just too few.

Barcelona were open to him leaving on loan in January, with Celta Vigo, Real Betis and Valencia all interested, but Torre elected to stay. His priority until this point has been to make it at Barcelona, and the Catalan daily say ‘everything indicates’ he will be keen on extending his deal at the club. Deco is keen to resolve the matter before June at any rate.

The Blaugrana purchased Torre from Racing Santander for €5m as a teenager, with the potential for the deal to rise to €19m, but after seemingly failing to impress Xavi Hernandez, has seen his progress stunted. Although Torre did receive minutes at Girona, he struggled for meaningful game time, and returned to try his luck under Hansi Flick.

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