Alejandro Balde is in the midst of a difficult season at Barcelona after falling down the pecking order and finding first-team minutes hard to come by.
The left-back has featured in Barcelona’s last two games – defeats to PSG and Real Madrid – due to injury problems in defence and will hope to feature on Saturday against Alaves.
Hansi Flick has spoken about his defensive options ahead of the match, as he’s without Eric Garcia, Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen and Xavi Espart, but admits that Balde
isn’t at his best.
“I said we need to manage who plays center back. Right now we have Gerard and Cubarsí. It’s a tough time for them. It’s important to find solutions. Frenkie can play in different positions. He can play center back,” he told a news conference.
“Balde doesn’t have the confidence he needs to play, the conviction to attack and press high. The full-backs are very important for us, in our style of play. He needs confidence to reach his best level.”
Hansi Flick has been tipped to deploy Brian Farinas at right full-back on Saturday, with either Balde or Joao Cancelo featuring on the opposite side of the defence.
