Barcelona midfielder’s chance to gain prominence dealt a blow due to discomfort

With FC Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong ruled out for a month and a half, unavailable for the Champions League tie against Newcastle United and doubtful for a potential quarter-final, what Hansi Flick needs are solutions.

For now, the German tactician has put his faith in Marc Bernal. The teenage midfielder developed at La Masia has immense quality and his moment appears to have arrived after the long recovery from his serious knee injury.

What about Marco Casado?

Alongside Bernal, another homegrown player, Marc Casado, was also expected to take a step forward and accumulate more minutes in rotation. But that has not happened for the Spaniard as he is dealing with physical discomfort, reports SPORT.

It is true that Casado has featured little this season. If the last campaign was one of the most notable and surprising breakthroughs, especially with the injuries to Bernal and De Jong, these months, he has had more difficulty finding consistency.

Dealing with physical discomfort. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

Without the Dutchman, he should have gained prominence. However, he has now gone three matches in a row without playing a single minute: Girona, Levante and Villarreal.

Asked in the post-match press conference after the win over Villarreal about the academy player’s situation, Flick was explicit and offered two noteworthy updates.

“Casado missed a day of training this week, and yesterday he couldn’t do much even though he trained,” he confirmed.

On top of that, the manager also confirmed that Bernal was ahead of Casado, saying: “Ultimately, Bernal is a bit ahead of him right now, and he played well today.”

It remains to be seen what will happen next summer with Casado. For now, he remains an important piece in midfield and could see his minutes increase once he fully recovers, with demanding weeks ahead for the team.