11 days ago, Barcelona defeated Sevilla 5-1 at the Estadi Olimpic – they did so despite having to make a late change pre-match when Eric Garcia suffered a muscular injury in the warm-up. Frenkie de Jong would have been favourite to replace the 24-year-old, but in the end, it was Ansu Fati that was in from the start.
In fact, de Jong did not feature at all against Sevilla, which was a surprise to many. Barca Reservat have revealed exactly why the Dutch midfielder was not called upon.
“Frenkie de Jong missed out on minutes against Sevilla because of what he told Hansi Flick. De Jong was meant to start, and had no medical issues, but before the game told Flick that he was okay to play for 20 minutes. Despite the Dutchman warming up for a lot of the second half, Flick decided if he was only good for 20 minutes, he’s not good for any.
“Afterwards there was no sour grapes from de Jong, and Flick believes that he will have a lot of minutes. Nobody has a guaranteed place though, and both he and Ronald Araujo will have to earn their minutes.”
Given that Barcelona were comfortable throughout against Sevilla, it was probably a good call by Flick not to call upon de Jong, especially if he was unsure about his ankle. In the end, things have worked out.