Remembering Dr. Minarro: The day he stopped Barcelona star Gavi from playing after a head injury | OneFootball

Yesterday, a day that most FC Barcelona fans would have been anticipating for an exciting La Liga tie against Osasuna, was turned into a day of grief as one of the Blaugrana first team’s doctors, Dr. Carles Minarro, passed away in the hotel where the team was staying in the afternoon.

Once his death had been confirmed, the Catalan club asked the authorities to postpone the game, which was understandable as the players were not really in an emotional state to play a game.

The dressing room would have naturally been in a state of shock to see one of its members passing away so unexpectedly. As Joan Laporta commented in his speech after the doctor’s death, Dr. Minarro had travelled with the team for every game and taken care of the players.

As MARCA has noted, one such instance of his involvement with the team was on display only in the recent game between Barcelona and Alaves. In that game, the midfielder Gavi suffered a serious blow to the head, because of which he had to be taken to the hospital.

However, right after this blow, he was handled by the now-deceased doctor, who examined the player and determined that he was not in the condition to continue playing, even though Gavi himself was keen to return to the pitch.

The conversation between the doctor and the player went as follows:

Dr: “What day is it today?”

Gavi: “I have no f***ing idea.”

“

Dr Minarro explained the situation to Hansi Flick and the Barcelona head coach told him that it was up to him to decide the way forward with Gavi. Thus, the midfielder ultimately left the pitch, but only after being persuaded by his teammates, Raphinha and Araujo.

This was one of the most recent interactions between the late doctor and a Blaugrana player that caught the eye of the public. But such scenes would naturally be normal behind the scenes in training and in matches, and there is no doubt that the players will miss such an important part of their dressing room.