Barcelona’s home league match against Osasuna has been postponed following the death of the club’s first-team doctor, Carles Minarro Garcia.
The Catalan club were scheduled to host Osasuna on Saturday but the match was called off less than 30 minutes before its scheduled start time at the request of Barcelona.
A statement from the club confirmed that the game would be rescheduled at a later date following the passing of Minarro Garcia, aged 50, who had spent seven years at Barcelona and was working with the first-team for the first time this season.
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_cat) March 8, 2025
“We pass on our condolences to the family and also to Barcelona,” Osasuna president Luis Sabalza told DAZN.
“We are so sorry, we know we could all be in this situation, so we put no barriers to the game being postponed. We understand that nobody should be playing a game thinking about someone that you have worked alongside for a long time is not there.
“The clubs had to agree first, then it is the referee who decides if the game can be played or not. The referee also thought it more than correct to not play. And from there we reached agreement with La Liga and the federation. Osasuna is so sorry for the pain of the Barcelona family.”
Real Madrid were among a host of La Liga clubs to release a statement of condolence.
Comunicado Oficial: fallecimiento de Carles Miñarro, doctor del F. C. Barcelona.
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) March 8, 2025
A statement from La Liga confirmed that Minarro Garcia’s death was why the match was postponed and the league expressed their “most sincere condolences to the family, friends, the club and its fans, and joins in their pain at this difficult moment.”
La Liga added: “The new date and time of the match will be announced shortly.”
Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo was among the players to pay tribute, saying that he “could not believe” Minarro Garcia’s passing.
De no creerlo😭💔
Descansa en paz Doc.
Mucha fuerza para la familia y amigos. Dios fortalezca sus corazones en este duro momento. https://t.co/bVnDZ41vTT— Ronald Araujo (@RonaldAraujo_4) March 8, 2025
Barca started the day top of La Liga, one point clear of Atletico Madrid and three clear of Real Madrid.
Hansi Flick’s side have won each of their most recent six league games, having won just once in the previous eight La Liga outings.
Barca are scheduled to return to action for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at home to Benfica on Tuesday, before an away league match at Atletico on March 16.
Osasuna, who defeated Barca 4-2 in September in the reverse league fixture, are 11th in the standings and are next in action at home to Getafe next Sunday.
(LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)
