Balde loses place in the rankings – Flick's rotation leaves Barça star out
Restart Barça star Alejandro Balde faces a bitter winter exit: While most of his teammates from FC Barcelona were on international duty, the 22‑year‑old left‑back stayed in Catalonia and trained intensively at the Ciutat Esportiva.
Internal ranking and training focus
For Balde, the international break seemed the tailor‑made opportunity to climb back up in Barcelona’s internal ranking. Instead, he spent the break exclusively with the coaching staff and the youth players to improve his chances of playing.
Flick’s lineup against Getafe
When coach Hansi Flick named the starting eleven for the league match against FC Getafe, the German head coach promptly made strong rotations. Players such as Joan García, Eric García, Gerard Martín, Gavi and Gabriel Jesus, who had not traveled with their national teams in the past two weeks, moved into the starting lineup.
In contrast, Balde spent the full 90 minutes on the bench – Flick gave him not a single minute of play. The Spanish sports newspaper AS reported that the former flagship of the Barça‑youth academy La Masia is therefore firmly stuck in a sporting dead‑end.
Barcelona’s record start masks Alejandro Balde’s dwindling role under Flick
The setback was not a new revelation for Balde. Already last summer, coach Flick had made it unmistakably clear to him that his chances in the star lineup would drastically shrink. In the 2024/25 season he still provided ten assists, but last season his offensive numbers collapsed by seven assists.
In the current round Balde was only allowed to take part in the already decided shoot‑out against Racing Santander for a meagre twelve minutes. On the left side of defence other professionals have long overtaken him: In addition to regular João Cancelo, Flick increasingly relies on Gerard Martín as well as home‑grown Xavi Espart, who is preferred after appearances for the Spanish U21 against Getafe.
The upcoming winter transfer window is likely to become a matter of destiny for the quick winger. Together with his influential adviser Jorge Mendes, Balde must make a fundamental decision about his future, because under Flick the Spanish international currently has no sporting perspective at the Catalans – the signs point to a departure in January more than ever.