Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has sent a strong message to the Spanish Federation after [the announcement on Friday](/barcelona-internationals/102747/marc-bernal-handed-spain-under-21-call-after-return-from-injury-for-barcelona) that Marc Bernal has been called up by Spain’s U21 team.
Bernal made his return from a serious knee injury after a year on the sidelines three weeks ago against Valencia and has only played a total of 21 minutes in three appearances since coming back, but that was enough for a call-up to the Spain youth setup.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Hansi Flick made it clear that Bernal is nowhere near ready to play starter minutes and should be handled very carefully by the national team in the next two weeks.
> “Marc Bernal isn’t ready to play many minutes, and it’s a difficult situation. Right now, he’s not ready for many minutes. He’s coming off a serious injury that lasted more than a year. He’s not at 100 percent. He’s not at the physical level he was before the injury. The Federation should be careful and take care of him.”
The fact Spain would call up a player who is not 100 percent and has played less than 30 minutes of football in over a year is pure insanity, but it’s also the kind of thing we’ve come to expect from the RFEF.
All we can do now is hope nothing happens to Bernal and that he doesn’t play a second more than he needs to.