FC Barcelona have played four league matches in their 2023-24 season, and Xavi’s preferences for his team are getting clearer with every matchday. Keeping an eye on this aspect is more interesting this season as some of the established veterans have left the club since the end of last season, and other highly-rated players have joined the club.
In these first four matches, Xavi has played 23 players. However, only three of these 23 players have played every possible minute.
As Mundo Deportivo reports, these three players are Marc Andre Ter Stegen, Jules Kounde, and Frenkie de Jong, while Robert Lewandowski’s perfect record was disturbed by his late substitution in the Osasuna match.
Ter Stegen
Ter Stegen’s case is the clearest of these three players, as he is the starting goalkeeper for FC Barcelona, and is currently irreplaceable in the team. His case for full minutes was even more strengthened by the fact that Inaki Pena was not registered for the first three games.
Frenkie de Jong
Frenkie de Jong has also taken a step forward this season, especially as Sergio Busquets has now left the club. The Dutchman now has more responsibilities than in prior seasons, as he is also one of the captains of the team. While he will be competing for minutes with Gundogan, Gavi, and Pedri, the injury to Gavi in the pre-season and to Pedri during a training session ahead of the game against Villarreal have allowed Frenkie to play all possible minutes this season.
Jules Kounde
The most surprising case among these three is that of Jules Kounde, who has been performing at a very high level since the start of the season. Last year, he was played mostly at the right-back position by Xavi, while Araujo played in the center. This season, the Frenchman has been playing mainly as a center-back, where he has been excellent.
In addition to these three players, another four have started all four games, but without playing the full minutes. These four are Lewandowski, Gundogan, Romeu, and Christensen. Meanwhile, Gavi and Yamal have also made four appearances but played only as substitutes in the first match against Getafe.
