Hansi Flick’s selection dilemmas ahead of Barcelona vs Eintracht Frankfurt | OneFootball

FC Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has constantly faced dilemmas with his selections this season, primarily because of the incessant injuries that the squad has had to deal with.

Ahead of the team’s midweek clash against Eintracht Frankfurt, the manager once again faces massive decisions, although they are distinct in nature compared to those he has been accustomed to dealing with.

After all, the coach is blessed to have key players returning from injury and substitutes overperforming in their limited chances, leaving him with many questions as to whom to deploy from the start tomorrow night, as relayed by SPORT.

Questions in attack

Flick opted for a novel system against Real Betis with Marcus Rashford and Roony Bardghji starting on the wings and Lamine Yamal playing in a central role behind Ferran Torres.

The positive performances of Torres and Bardghji, in particular, make them contenders to start midweek.

It is almost taken for granted that Raphinha will replace Rashford tomorrow, but the manager has two key dilemmas to solve in attack – the striker and the position of Yamal.

For starters, the coach must choose whether Ferran or Robert Lewandowski will lead the forward line against the Germans. 

Next, the question lies in where Yamal will feature. If the youngster plays as a winger again, Fermin is a strong candidate to start centrally. However, there is also the option of placing Yamal centrally and deploying one of Torres or Bardghji on the right.

The midfield dilemma

The second department where Flick faces a conundrum is the midfield, especially with the return of Frenkie de Jong.

The Dutchman made his return off the bench in the team’s last game and did well, but Eric Garcia and Pedri have also done well as a combination in recent games, and there is no pressing need to change the working formula.

The manager can thus choose one of two options – deploy De Jong as the attacking midfielder at the expense of Fermin, or replace Garcia with him in the pivot and push the versatile star into one of the defensive positions.

In either case, it is an overwhelmingly positive problem for Flick to have.