Barcelona’s injury-prone youngster could make his first start under Hansi Flick soon

With the second international break of the 2024/25 season almost out of the way, FC Barcelona will return to action on Sunday with a La Liga encounter against Sevilla.

The Blaugrana are undisputed league leaders after nine matchweeks, winning eight and losing one – with a three-point lead over arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Things are looking up for Barça as they are also set to welcome back some important players like Gavi, Dani Olmo, and Fermin Lopez from injuries.

However, heading into Sunday’s match, there is some uncertainty over the availability of key forward Lamine Yamal after he returned from the Spain NT camp with a muscle overload.

Ansu Fati to start vs Sevilla?

Even though Yamal is not injured, Hansi Flick could be better off not risking the youngster from the start against Sevilla, given that Barcelona play Bayern Munich and Real Madrid next week.

In that scenario, with Ferran Torres injured and Olmo only returning from a spell on the sidelines, the manager will have two options to replace Yamal – Pau Victor or Ansu Fati.

While Victor has had more minutes, this might be the ideal opportunity for Flick to test Ansu by handing him his first start of the new season.

The 21-year-old attacker has only featured a couple of times this term after missing the start of the season due to injury. But in his most recent cameo against Deportivo Alaves, there were some glimpses of his great quality.

Fati needs a show of confidence from the manager for him to be able to return to his best and a start against Sevilla could be the way to go.

Even if Flick opts to go with Pau Victor against Sevilla, given the packed fixture schedule ahead of Barcelona, it might not be long before the manager opts to hand Ansu a starting berth.

The Barcelona No. 10 remains determined to prove himself in the Blaugrana colours and will be looking forward to making his opportunities count.