29-year-old Barcelona player continues to face an uphill battle despite returning to match fitness | OneFootball

The 2024-25 season is nearing its final few weeks with FC Barcelona still competing in all three big competitions. As a result, the Catalans cannot afford to take any match lightly, as even a minor misstep can cost them a title.

Thus, Hansi Flick will have to be very careful with the management of his players’ minutes going forward, to keep his regular starters fresh for this crucial stretch of the season and also to keep the fringe players sharp to ensure they can contribute whenever called upon by the German coach.

Still, it would be quite hard for some players to get minutes on the pitch. This is particularly true for players like Ansi Fati and Pablo Torre, who have not been able to play a lot of minutes this season.

Similarly, this is also true for the defender Andreas Christensen, who has played only 27 minutes so far this season, and these minutes too came only in the very first game of the season against Valencia.

After that game, the Dane suffered an Achilles injury, that kept him out for five months, but more physical problems meant he was unable to play again this season, despite being one of the more important players in Flick’s preferences before the start of the season and a contender for the starting spot with Araujo, Martinez, and Cubarsi.

Although he has returned to availability and has been making the team’s squad lists for some weeks now, the Spanish outlet SPORT notes that he still finds himself in quite a difficult situation at Barcelona.

Flick is naturally quite cautious about fielding him in matches as he has just returned from a prolonged spell on the sidelines.

Furthermore, there are up to four centre-backs competing for minutes ahead of the Dane, including Inigo Martinez, Pau Cubarsi, Ronald Araujo, and Eric Garcia. The lack of match sharpness and rhythm makes it even more difficult for him to compete with these players for minutes.

To further complicate things, his contract is ending in 2026, and as things stand, Barcelona are yet to decide about his potential renewal.

An injury in the upcoming days can change the situation significantly for the former Chelsea defender. However, as things stand, his chances of getting more importance and minutes in the Blaugrana team are quite slim.