Frenkie de Jong was at last able to return to the pitch and make his debut under Hansi Flick in the match between FC Barcelona and BSC Young Boys.
With this appearance, which endured for a quarter of an hour, the Dutchman ended his 163-day-long hiatus on the sidelines. The midfielder had been out of action since the last season when he collided with Federico Valverde in an El Clasico and hurt his ankle.
As SPORT has reported, the former Ajax midfielder was able to play the last phase of the game against Young Boys with good feelings. However, he is still not ready to play a full game at this point in time, and Flick’s staff has a specific plan to get him back to 100% as some difficult matches approach for Barcelona.
Flick will once again give him some minutes in the upcoming match against Alaves, and then use the international break to give him another two weeks of rest before the big games arrive.
Frenkie is not expected to be called up by Ronald Koeman for the Dutch national team as he was not named in the pre-list published ahead of the official announcement of the squad.
After the October international break, Barcelona will have their hands full with some difficult matches. They will return to La Liga with a match against Sevilla at Montjuic, and then play against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League.
This thrilling encounter will be followed by perhaps the biggest game in La Liga, El Clasico, which can also have the first league position at stake.
By the time these matches arrive, De Jong will be ready to play the full 90 minutes on the pitch. Furthermore, Dani Olmo and Fermin Lopez would also have returned, and thus Flick will have a greater variety of options for his midfield.
