{"id":497805,"date":"2026-03-01T16:44:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T16:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/497805\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T16:44:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T16:44:07","slug":"barcelona-may-have-found-surprise-solution-to-frenkie-de-jongs-absence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/497805\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona may have found surprise solution to Frenkie de Jong&#8217;s absence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The absence of Frenkie de Jong continues to test Hansi Flick, but Barcelona\u2019s 4-1 victory over Villarreal offered a clear sign that <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/five-options-for-hansi-flick-to-replace-injured-barcelona-midfielder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">solutions are already inside the squad<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Instead of disturbing the entire system, Flick trusted the youth, and the response was encouraging.<\/p>\n<p>For 67 minutes, Marc Bernal operated as the team\u2019s holding midfielder, the classic \u20186\u2019 role usually occupied by De Jong.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And when Bernal left the pitch, Eric Garcia moved into that same position, showing that Flick has two alternatives depending on the game state.<\/p>\n<p>Bernal\u2019s task was demanding. He had to connect play between Dani Olmo and Fermin Lopez, maintain defensive balance and stop Villarreal\u2019s quick transitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The teenager handled that responsibility with maturity beyond his age.<\/p>\n<p>A great performance under pressure<\/p>\n<p>In just 67 minutes, Bernal recorded 66 interventions. He completed 90% of his passes, most of them short and first-time touches designed to keep the rhythm high and reduce risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fc-barcelona-v-valencia-cf-laliga-ea-sports-2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Marc Bernal, Barcelona player\" class=\"wp-image-191164\"  \/>Marc Bernal was fantastic against Villarreal. (Photo by David Ramos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>That efficiency helped Barcelona control possession during key phases.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, he was shown a yellow card in the 53rd minute after committing a tactical foul to halt a dangerous Villarreal counterattack.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the numbers, the tactical impression was strong, as Bernal kept his positioning disciplined and avoided unnecessary forward runs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In defence, he tracked runners and stayed alert against transitions. In attack, he prioritised circulation over unnecessary theatrics.<\/p>\n<p>This was his third start of the season, and although he has not yet completed a full 90 minutes, this 67-minute display stands as his most convincing performance so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The midfielder is clearly growing in confidence and for now, Barcelona look stable even without De Jong.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If Bernal continues at this level, the gap left by the Dutch international may turn into an opportunity for a new midfield leader to emerge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The absence of Frenkie de Jong continues to test Hansi Flick, but Barcelona\u2019s 4-1 victory over Villarreal offered&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[418,49042,4893,209945,403,99],"class_list":["post-497805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-marc-bernal","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}