Fermin Lopez vs Dani Olmo: Barcelona have a fascinating battle for one starting position | OneFootball

Hansi Flick has a problem that most managers would happily accept: two proven attacking midfielders are competing for the same starting place at Barcelona.

As such, Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo have been sharing the No.10 role at different points of the opening seven matches, but their minutes together have been surprisingly limited. 

To put it in perspective, Barcelona have already played 718 minutes of football across La Liga and the Champions League, yet the pair have spent only 88 of them on the pitch at the same time.

Neither Olmo nor Fermin take the position outright

To begin with, Fermin has had the edge in starts, beginning four matches compared with three for Olmo. He has also accumulated 390 minutes, which is 62 more than his teammate.

Olmo, on the other hand, started against Feyenoord in Barcelona’s Champions League opener.

Fermin Lopez has played a little bit more than Dani Olmo. (Photo by Francisco Macia/Getty Images)

Furthermore, Fermin has four goals and two assists, with his goals coming against Elche, Athletic Club and Valencia. Two of his assists arrived in the same game at Mestalla, where he set up Lamine Yamal and Raphinha.

Olmo has not scored yet, but he has three assists. Two came against Valencia for Pedri and Yamal, while his latest arrived against Racing Santander when he supplied Raphinha during the 7-2 victory.

Barcelona’s attack makes the choice even harder

Notably, Flick also has Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi competing on the left, while the arrival of different attacking profiles has reduced the number of guaranteed places across the front four.

That has made the Fermin-Olmo battle particularly fluid. When Fermin has started, Olmo has usually moved out of the central role when selected alongside him. The reverse has happened when Olmo has been the starter.

Dani Olmo faces severe competition for places. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Yet the two have rarely been on the pitch together for long, as their longest shared spell was only 27 minutes against Athletic Club.

Flick can keep both players involved

The aforementioned may ultimately be Barcelona’s biggest advantage.

Fermin offers more of a goal threat from midfield, attacking the box and arriving in scoring positions, while Olmo brings creativity and has already demonstrated that with his three assists despite not finding the net.

Fortunately for Barcelona, neither has disappeared when left out of the XI, and that is important over a season in which Barcelona will need to rotate.