La Liga champions Barcelona will be forced to make do without manager Hansi Flick’s contributions for their upcoming showdown with arch rivals Real Madrid.
This comes owing to developments late in the Blaugrana’s meeting with Girona.
Barcelona marked their return to action a short time ago, playing host to Catalan rivals Girona in a La Liga clash.
And with just minutes remaining in proceedings, the evening’s hosts looked headed for a third successive outing without victory.
After Pedri’s opener was cancelled out by Axel Witsel, the matchup rolled into injury time still locked at 1-1.
This was until Ronald Araújo, playing as a centre-forward, popped up with a decisive winner with 93 minutes on the clock.
Prior to as much, though, the aforementioned Hansi Flick had already allowed his emotions to get the better of him.
After making clear his frustration with the standard of officiating, the German’s protests were met with a straight red card.
Flick, as a result, is facing up to a suspension, ruling him out of Barca’s most high-profile fixture of the season to date, next weekend’s El Clásico in Madrid.
Conor Laird – GSFN
