There is something that rings alarm bells. Many. Barcelona will lose at least seven players during much of the preseason and the beginning of the season due to Poland's U-20 World Cup. We are not talking about a couple of league matches: we are referring to decisive weeks of work, the start of the championship and, potentially, the first match of a Champions League with a format launched just a year ago where every point and every goal can be decisive.

The key players who will be absent

According to sport.es, among those called up are Clara Serrajordi and Aïcha Camara, two players who are currently part of Pere Romeu's starting eleven. They are not rotation players; they are undisputed starters. With their departure, the Barça manager is left practically without natural full-backs for several weeks, with only Esmee Brugts available in that position.

The problem is not merely quantitative. It is qualitative. The absence of these two key pieces completely disrupts the team's sporting plans during a critical preparation phase.

A systemic problem in women's football

Barcelona is not alone in this situation. Real Madrid, for example, loses six players for the same reason. But not all clubs suffer the impact equally. Call-ups do not carry the same weight in every squad.

The main culprit has a clear name: a FIFA calendar that encroaches heavily on the start of the club season. The federations also make decisions in this regard. Spain, in its case, has chosen to bring the best available U-20 players because the aim is to win the tournament. It is legitimate from a competitive perspective, but an uncomfortable question arises: is it also so from the perspective of player development?

The real cost: lost opportunities

Lower categories should serve to develop, to open doors and to broaden opportunities, not just to accumulate titles. It is hard to understand how a player like Serrajordi, a regular with the senior national team and who will probably go to the World Cup in Brazil, has to miss the start of the season with her club to play a development tournament.

The international players themselves also lose out. Players like Rosalía Domínguez, Julia Torres or Noa Jiménez were using the preseason to convince Pere Romeu that they can earn a place in the first team. Going to the U-20 World Cup is extraordinary, yes, but it also means abandoning the greatest showcase they have to earn a spot at Barcelona at the most important time of the summer.

It was precisely Serrajordi and Aïcha who took advantage of that same preseason just a year ago to secure a permanent place in the first team. Today they are starters. This summer, other teammates are missing the opportunity to follow that same path.

An uncomfortable question

It is hard to imagine a similar situation in men's football. Does anyone see Lamine Yamal or Pau Cubarsí, both established with the senior national team, missing the start of the Champions League to play a U-20 World Cup? No. It is time to stop normalizing situations that we would never accept in other contexts.

Because nobody wins here. Clubs see their planning disrupted, players lose a decisive moment to establish themselves at the elite level and women's football continues to accept calendars that are simply incompatible with excellence. And that, regrettably, is a shame that could be avoided.