frenkie de jong v valencia

FRENKIE REPLACED CASADÓ AT HALFTIME

Frenkie de Jong once again wins the individual duel against Marc Casadó

Published:2/02/2025 - 20:55h

Updated:2/02/2025 - 22:04h

Frenkie de Jong continues to gain ground in his fight for a starting position with FC Barcelona. The Dutchman came on for Marc Casadó again at halftime against Alavés, leaving a better impression than the Catalan.

Calendar of FC Barcelona

The entry of Frenkie de Jong for Marc Casadó was one of the keys to FC Barcelona's victory over Alavés (1-0). The Dutchman replaced the '17' at halftime after a sluggish first half from Barça, with only a couple of clear chances and a shot on goal from Pedri. The Tenerife native struggled to establish partnerships in the Blaugrana midfield against the good defensive work of the opponents, but in the second half, he had the '21' as the ideal partner to activate the Catalan play.

In total, Frenkie completed 100% of his passes (41), with one chance created and a couple of duels won. Additionally, he drew a couple of fouls and the team improved significantly in the first quarter of an hour of the second half, right after his entry. Casadó, on the other hand, had a rather dull first half, completing 25 of 26 passes (96%), but had no participation in attack, although he recovered 5 balls in 45 minutes.

Flick satisfied with De Jong's performance

In the post-match press conference, Flick explained his decision to replace Casadó with De Jong after the break. The coach also brought on Eric García in place of a booked Ronald Araujo. "In the first half, the stoppages for injuries did not help us regain rhythm, and we thought we needed more speed. Ronald had the yellow card," the German began.

In that sense, he praised the work of the Dutchman. "Frenkie has confidence in his game. With the ball, he is really very good. We are working because we need him", he added. For the '21', it was the second opportunity in the last three league matches where he came on for the Catalan midfielder at halftime. Against Valencia, both were starters, while on Wednesday, against Atalanta, the player from Arkel played the full 90 minutes, while the one from Sant Pere de Vilamajor remained on the bench.