At a glance
- Frenkie de Jong has been missing from FC Barcelona action since suffering a hamstring injury in late February.
- Hansi Flick said his midfielder would return after the March international break, and that might still ring prove.
- On Saturday, however, for the La Liga trip to Atletico Madrid, the Dutchman remains ruled out.
Frenkie de Jong is currently ruled out of the La Liga meeting with Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano this weekend after not training with the rest of the group at the Joan Gamper CT on Thursday.
Even if he does practice with his teammates on Friday, it’s believed that De Jong won’t be fit enough to travel to the Spanish capital while SPORT’s Didac Peyret expects Marc Bernal to continue in his place.
De Jong has been out of action since late February after suffering a hamstring knock in training and later being caught on camera crying in his car.
Hansi Flick stated that the 28-year-old would return following the March international break, and that can still prove true.
What seems certain for now, though, is that unlike Alejandro Balde, who could get the green light and provide Flick with full-back options, De Jong probably won’t make the bench on Saturday.
De Jong’s loss is Bernal’s gain at FC Barcelona
While De Jong remains sidelined, Marc Bernal will only continue to earn minutes in the midfield.
Recovering from his own ACL knock in 2024, the Class of 2007 graduate is living his best moment as a Blaugrana first team star and boasts a goalscoring threat with five strikes in all competitions.
Even if De Jong were fit, it’d be hard for Flick to drop Bernal as Pedri’s partner. As he showed against Newcastle United, however, with exhaustion hitting at around 70 minutes in St. James’ Park in the last 16 first leg, Bernal might not be ready to play 90 minutes in a string of consecutive matches.
This could be where De Jong comes off the bench, providing calm ball carrying in tense matches such as the upcoming Champions League quarterfinal legs once more against Atleti, plus a derby date hosting of Espanyol on April 11.
