After having a very good first season with the first team of FC Barcelona, in which he pushed a player as important as Jordi Alba towards an exit, Alejandro Balde had a nightmare last year.
He had to go through a very traumatic hamstring injury, which kept him out of action for the entirety of the 2nd half of the last season. He was able to recover in time for this season and has been playing for Hansi Flick ever since the German tactician took the reins at the Catalan club.
As things stand, he is an integral part of the team’s backline, which is missing some other players like Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen this season. He has played in all five La Liga matches up to now, and also played in the UEFA Champions League defeat to Monaco last Thursday.
As Mundo Deportivo has reported, one of the questions that Flick had to face in the press conference ahead of the match against Villarreal was related to Balde. Flick seemed quite happy with the way the Spaniard is performing, and clearly mentioned that he really loves how Balde contributes in attack:
“He’s an important player, and he’s doing well. He can improve. He’s always involved. He performs very well in attack, and I love that. He has a lot of room for improvement. He’s a key player. He’s played in some difficult matches. He can be part of the national team again.”
With his speed and attacking abilities, Balde can turn out to be an ideal fullback for Hansi Flick. He has already shown that he has the ability to shine for a side as big as Barcelona, and hopefully, he will be able to build on these early good performances to put his injury behind him and become a true star at FC Barcelona.
