Resurrections in the Barça locker room

BarcelonaAmong Hansi Flick's miracles is also the ability to capitalize on the players he's relied on the least, but who he now needs in the most crucial stretch of the season. In this sense, in recent years La Masia has become an essential breeding ground since financial problems plagued the Blaugrana club. Barça has had no choice but to turn their need into a virtue. Ronald Koeman, Xavi Hernández, and now Hansi Flick are the ones who have had to look most to the youth academy in recent seasons, and the homegrown players, some of them still Barça natives or too young to get their driver's license, are pillars of this team. Others, like Ansu Fati and Hector Fort, experienced a revival against Mallorca.

Although the origin of both of their discomfort is the same, their situations are different. Ansu's frustration stems from a high-level preseason training session and the kind words of Flick, who hoped to get more out of a player hampered by constant fitness issues. An injury to the sole of his right foot at the end of July disrupted the attacker's development, which had been following a specific fitness plan from Julio Tous and Pepe Conde, which was blessed by the coach. This latest setback interrupted his chance to start the season on equal terms with his teammates.

Despite playing him on a few occasions, Flick saw as the months went by that he couldn't ask the same things of him as other attackers: voracious off-ball pressing, generous mobility, and electric passing. In the midst of his disappointment, the coach even tried him out for a bit in midfield, although the experiment didn't work either. It was at the beginning of October, in the Barça-Young Boys match, which became Ansu's last non-monitoring appearance in the Champions League. Against Mallorca, the Barça No. 10 started for just the second time all season. His first appearance was six months ago, in the thrashing of Sevilla at Montjuïc on October 20.

In his hour against the islanders, Ansu put in his best minutes of a season in which he has barely featured in ten matches, and Montjuïc acknowledged this with applause and chants of his name. The attacker, who started on the left wing, attempted four shots (two intercepted by the defender, one by the goalkeeper, and the other went wide), provided three key passes (one of which ended with Gavi hitting the post), and had an 86% success rate in linking up with his teammates: 36 passes completed out of 4. "You can see that the fans and his teammates are supporting him. It's been a very good day for him. It will help him regain confidence and believe in himself more," Flick said.

Hector Fort could take Gerard Martín's place.

However, it seems difficult to imagine Ansu being able to continue at Barça. The player himself holds the upper hand, having signed a contract renewal in 2021 with a star salary that doesn't expire until 2027. The attacker is comfortable in a locker room where he has a strong ally in Lamine Yamal, with whom he maintains a friendship. Hector Fort is also part of this group of friends. The full-back from Les Corts, where he still lives with his family - he will turn 19 in August - renewed his contract in May, months after making his debut with Xavi, until 2029. Against Mallorca, despite a couple of early defensive lapses, he improved and was the fifth most accurate player in the entire match for 4 (7) minutes. He ended up being substituted due to physical fatigue.

In the summer, Fort received interest from top European clubs, especially from Germany and England, as well as Girona, but he opted to stay at Barcelona. Minutes and opportunities will determine his future. The defender agreed during his renewal that if he didn't feel comfortable, the club would facilitate his departure at the end of the season, primarily on loan. Despite still having a contract with the reserve team—with whom he played one game in September—he has spent the entire season playing for the first team. Flick began the season by giving him a few opportunities and treating him with a soft touch, but his bet was on Gerard Martín, and that has relegated him to ostracism.

However, his situation could change in the final stretch. Flick "didn't like" Martín's last game against Celta Vigo at all—according to sources at the Ciudad Deportiva (Sports City) in the Spanish capital—and now he's doubting whether Fort should be Balde's replacement against Real Madrid. The Barcelona full-back, who has only played in 15 matches (4 as a starter), already played in difficult venues last season, such as San Mamés and the Metropolitano under Xavi.