‘Happy to help the team’… 24-year-old Barcelona player reacts after playing a new role vs Mallorca | OneFootball

FC Barcelona secured another La Liga victory last night, hosting Mallorca at the Montjuïc for their Matchday 33 fixture. Hansi Flick made several changes to his starting line-up for this game, but his side was still able to dominate the match and ended up winning 1-0.

One of the most notable changes made by the German coach for this game was to replace the defender Jules Kounde on the right flank with Eric Garcia, a player who has played mostly as a centre-back and sometimes as a pivot earlier in his career.

But the experiment to play him as a right-back proved to be successful, as the Spaniard not only helped keep the Mallorca attackers in control, but was also able to add an assist to his name, for the only goal scored on the night by Dani Olmo.

As Mundo Deportivo has reported, Garcia also talked to the media after the end of the game. The former Manchester City centre-back believed the result could have been even more one-sided, keeping in view the chances generated by his team:

“The result was short for the chances we had, more than 40 shots… but the team is happy and we kept a clean sheet. I’m happy to help the team.”

The defender also assessed his team’s form ahead of the Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid on Saturday:

“We’re arriving in a good moment… The recent results have been a bit tighter, but playing a final against Real Madrid is always special.”

In addition to Garcia’s position on the field, another surprise in this game was Ansu Fati, who started the game for Barcelona after several months. The defender was quite happy to see his friend playing well in this rare appearance:

“I saw Ansu at a good level today, It’s important to have these options with Lewandowski’s injury.”

The way players like Hector Fort, Eric Garcia, and Ansu Fati played last night, Hansi Flick will not have to worry about a shortage of options for any position as he enters the most decisive stretch of the season. Hopefully, these fringe players will continue to play at their best level and help Barcelona win all the big titles.