Good news for Barça: Spain drops Marc Bernal from the U-21 squad

The FC Barcelona received good news this Saturday. Marc Bernal was finally removed from the squad by the coach of the Spanish U-21 team, David Gordo, for the friendly against Norway and the qualifying match for the European Championship in the category against Finland. The player from Wolverhampton, Fer López, will replace him on the list.

Through a statement, the U-21 National Team confirmed that "the RFEF has chosen to withdraw Marc Bernal, who has physical discomfort," this after reviewing the medical reports sent on Friday night by Barça.

The coach David Gordo's call-up had come out at noon, including the one from Berga and 22 other players. The 18-year-old midfielder had just returned to playing with Barça on September 14, against Valencia (6-0), after more than a year out due to his serious knee injury. ## The RFEF agrees with Barcelona: Marc Bernal is not yet physically at his peak That day, Bernal played 9 minutes, providing an assist to close the rout. Afterwards, he came on near the end in Oviedo (1-3) and, on Wednesday against Paris Saint-Germain (1-2) he added another 11 minutes, his first official minutes in the UEFA Champions League.

In that sense, with just 21 minutes of playing time, it is clear that the midfielder still needs time to pick up competitive rhythm. In the press conference prior to Barça's visit to Sevilla, Hansi Flick expressed his displeasure at the Under-21's decision to even consider him for a FIFA date.

Marc Bernal during the Barça-Valencia (6-0)

"I don't know what they want from him, we have to be careful and he's not ready to play many minutes. **We see it in training: he's not like he was before the injury and that goes for me and the Federation**," said the Barça coach.

Marc underwent surgery in September 2024 for a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and an associated injury to the external meniscus. The club strictly adhered to the initial recovery time set by the doctors (one year), and the player from Berga has only recently started playing in September.

## Barça will not change its plan for managing Marc Bernal

In that sense, the coaching staff is very clear about the plan to follow with Marc Bernal. The kid will be adding minutes in the coming weeks, both in the League and in the Champions League, progressively increasing the physical load depending on his evolution.

Barça recently completed his renewal until 2029 and have given him the number '22'. Gestures that confirm their confidence in the midfielder's projection and, therefore, the need to protect him in all aspects to achieve his full physical recovery this season.

In the 24/25 season, Hansi Flick also managed Gavi's minutes in the first half of the season, until the '6' regained competitive rhythm. Unfortunately, the Andalusian relapsed from his ailments in the right meniscus last month, a scenario that Barça seeks to avoid at all costs with Bernal.

Fortunately, the RFEF has respected this position, leaving him out of the friendly against **Norway** in Guadalajara (Friday, October 10) and on Tuesday the 14th against **Finland** in Castellón, for matchday 3 of the Euro qualifiers for the category. For the moment, La Roja has 6 out of 6 points in a group that it shares with Romania, Kosovo, Cyprus, and San Marino. * 👉 Follow all the Barça news in our section on FC Barcelona.