Hansi Flick explains why Barcelona midfield star is not even on the bench vs Atletico Madrid | OneFootball

FC Barcelona are less than an hour away from kicking off a crucial game in La Liga. Taking on Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano, this is a fixture in which La Blaugrana really need a win. For Barcelona, it is a must-win game because of the stakes it has in the La Liga title race.

Ahead of this important encounter, both teams have now released their official starting elevens as well. As expected, both Hansi Flick and Diego Simeone have opted to field their strongest possible lineup in order to have the best chance of winning.

Interestingly, however, there was a notable absence from the Barcelona starting eleven. While the majority of the starting eleven was the same as most people would have expected, the notable absence of Frenkie de Jong was alarming.

Moreover, the player is not even on the bench for the game against Atletico Madrid. The reason behind this, as highlighted by Fabrizio Romano, was revealed by Hansi Flick himself:

“Frenkie de Jong is out due to discomfort – he was supposed to start, but unfortunately he couldn’t.”

That confirms that the €45 million-rated midfielder, as per his valuation on Transfermarkt, was initially set to start tonight. Instead, however, his place has been taken by Marc Casado, a player who has arguably lost prominence in the team recently due to De Jong’s resurgence.

While the young Spanish is by no means a bad alternative, he does not offer the same profile that De Jong does. So far in 2025, the Dutchman has been a key part of Flick’s plans and has undeniably had a positive influence on the team’s overall quality.

Fortunately for De Jong, however, his issue does not seem to be too severe. As per RAC1, the player has stomach-related issues and that is the reason behind why he is unable to participate in this game against Atletico Madrid.

It will now be interesting to see just how well Barcelona can manage this game without him. They do have other players who can create issues for Atletico Madrid, and it remains to be seen if Flick’s men can do what must be done in order to secure their desired result.