The Spanish media "World Sports" reported that as of the fourth round of La Liga, in which Frick coached Barcelona, only once did Yamal and De Jong not play at the same time due to different reasons. This round faces Valencia. Due to the impact of FIFA virus, Barcelona will lose both the winger and the midfield core at the same time. This will be the first time that the two are absent at the same time.
The only time Yamal missed De Jong at the same time was the 18th away game last season when he lost to Atletico Madrid 1-2 away. Yamal was absent due to an ankle injury, while De Jong was not given a chance to play on the bench.
In the year-end final match against Atletico Madrid on December 22, 2024, Frick arranged a double midfielder combination between Casador and Pedri, Garvey served as the front midfielder, Rafinia replaced Yamal to occupy the right winger, and Fermin replaced Rafinia to appear on the left winger.
In three other games, both did not start but both had substitute records: against Osasuna (2-4), Yamal came on as a substitute, De Jong was injured, Frick used Eric Garcia and Ferran Torres; against Celta (2-2), Yamal was injured and De Jong only played for 2 minutes, with Casador and Rafinia filling the vacancy; against Las Palmas (1-2), both came on as a substitute, Garvey and Rafinia completed the replacement task. In this round, against Valencia, it is expected that Casado and Rafinia will be partnered with Rashford, with Rashford on the left.
De Jong encountered the lowest period of his Barcelona career at the end of 2024, and he missed the 16-man roster against Leganes and Atletico Madrid in a row. In these two league games, although Barcelona used five substitutions, they did not give DeJong even one minute of playing time, and Eric Garcia ranked ahead of him. The situation has completely changed nearly a year later, and De Jong has become a key player under Frick.
source:7m cn net