After a gruelling 5-2 win against Real Betis at La Cartuja, Barcelona are now gearing up for an important week, with the Catalans slated to face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in midweek.
However, the club were hit with a major blow in the Betis encounter, with three of their defenders – Eric Garcia, Gerard Martin and Jules Kounde – picking up fresh knocks.
All three are now doubtful to feature against PSG in midweek, which, coupled with Andreas Christensen’s injury, leaves Hansi Flick extremely short-handed in central defence.
Frenkie de Jong to turn savior?
De Jong may have to operate as a centre-back. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
As reported by Diario SPORT, Flick could be forced to rely on makeshift options in his bid to solve the problem in central defence ahead of the PSG game.
After a long injury layoff, the Dutchman is finally back in contention for Barcelona, with Flick earlier confirming that the midfielder is being trialed in a centre-back role.
De Jong has played as a centre-back during his time at Ajax and even at Barcelona under Ronald Koeman before. Therefore, he can certainly become a makeshift solution.
If Martin, Kounde and Garcia all miss out, de Jong can be an option to start alongside Pau Cubarsi at the heart of the four-man backline.
However, the only concern for Barcelona right now is that De Jong hasn’t played any football since his injury and a direct return to starting eleven, that too in an unfamiliar role, could be risky.
What are Flick’s other options?
Will Hansi Flick put his faith in La Masia youngsters? (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
Flick can always rely on options from the Barcelona academy, and there are already multiple alternatives to choose from.
The likes of Alex Campos and Landry Farre as potential options for Flick in case he decides to put his faith on a La Masia talent.
These academy talents have come to the rescue of Barcelona multiple times in the past so it won’t be surprising to see Flick opting for this option at all.
However, the most likely scenario could see Martin being available for this PSG clash, despite his knock during the Real Betis game.
The situation of Garcia and Kounde looks more iffy, but it remains unlikely that Barcelona will have all three of these defenders unavailable for the PSG clash. In case they do, de Jong or a score of La Masia talents are available as alternatives for Flick.