There is no doubt in the fact that having an experienced manager has been very beneficial for Barcelona. With a team as gifted as this, it would be a waste of talent to not give them a coach who could bring out the best in them. Fortunately, Barcelona looked to have made the right move with Hansi Flick.
However, while the German coach helped the team maintain a perfect record in La Liga despite the injury concerns in his squad that he was dealing with, those issues are now getting out of hand. Almost in quick succession, the Barcelona coach has lost the services of both Dani Olmo and Fermin Lopez as well.
While many expected Lopez to be the answer that could fill in for Olmo following his injury, it now appears that Barcelona will have to depend on other alternatives to make up for both of those injured midfielders. Unfortunately, there are not too many options within the first team.
However, while La Masia could provide the answers in the form of several midfielders, there are at least two names who could make a surprise entry into the Champions League squad for the game against AS Monaco up next. Interestingly, both of these names are of players who belong to the same family.
As highlighted by SPORT, both Guille and Toni Fernandez could be the surprise entrants who are next in line to get a first-team opportunity under the mentorship of Hansi Flick. The two cousins have already made a name for themselves in Barcelona Atletic and the 16-year-old academy talents have got what it takes to excel at the highest level.
So far, Hansi Flick has rarely ever let age be a restrictive barrier when it comes to giving chances within the first team. Sergi Dominguez has already made his debut, and the likes of Marc Bernal are there to prove this statement as well. Unfortunately, the 17-year-old midfielder suffered an ACL injury, but he remained a key first-team player up until that moment.
As for the two Fernandez cousins, Barcelona will need to be quick if they want both of them included in the B team so that they can enter the Champions League squad for the upcoming game. With two key first-team players now injured, only Pedri, Pablo Torre, and Marc Casado are left as the available midfielders.
Fortunately, both of them also offer versatility and present new options for Flick to test out. Guille can act as a more traditional attacking midfielder and can fit right where the Barcelona coach would have otherwise deployed either of Lopez or Olmo, whereas Toni is essentially a dynamic winger who possesses both flair and technical brilliance that can be made use of as well.
