Having convincingly beaten Real Valladolid last weekend with a thumping 7-0 scoreline, most Barcelona first-team stars have dispersed to join international duty with their respective nations, leaving very few players for Hansi Flick to work with.
The German coach has scheduled training for the squad until Wednesday before giving them a break until next Monday. Obviously, he wants the team to keep going, maintain their fitness levels, and be ready for the post-international break commitments.
To make up the numbers in training, as per SPORT, Flick has called up six quarry players to join the first-team training session. This includes Quim Junyent , Xavi Espart , Pedro Soma , Jan Virgili, Juan Hernández and Landry.
Junyent, among those on this list, was heavily involved in pre-season under Hansi Flick. He went on the US tour and got a few minutes under the German coach as the left-sided attacker although he is predominantly a midfielder.
Of course, there are a few first-teamers in training like Iñaki Peña, Balde, Iñigo Martínez, Eric Garcia, Pablo Torre, Marc Casadó, and Pau Víctor – and learning from them will give these youngsters a brilliant opportunity.
Ansu Fati and Frenkie de Jong are also expected to resume group training really soon. They should be fit in time for first-team action after the international break and let’s see how the two players shape up physically.
Although none of these youngsters are necessarily in line to make a first-team debut anytime soon, it’s their opportunity to impress Flick and show that they have what it takes to be involved in the first-team picture in the near future.
Junyent in particular, having already caught the eye during pre-season might be closer than the others to get a chance in the Barcelona first-team if the opportunity arises. Flick has shown that he isn’t scared to use La Masia players and let’s see if goes down that road with any of these players any time soon.
