Hansi Flick confirms Barcelona star is ‘putting pressure’ on teammate for starting role | OneFootball

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has on Sunday suggested that the battle for a starting berth at left-back in his squad is beginning to heat up.

Alejandro Balde, of course, has been the undisputed first-choice on the left of Barcelona’s backline across the season to date.

This comes with the Spaniard, now back fully fit and firing, having rediscovered some of his best form.

And yet, behind him, competition is growing.

With Balde having been afforded a much-needed rest in Barca’s La Liga meeting with Real Sociedad on Sunday, Gerard Martín was handed his latest chance to impress.

And the 23-year-old went on to manage precisely that.

Impressive on both sides of the ball, Martín set the goalscoring in motion this evening, en route to an eventual 4-0 Blaugrana triumph.

This is just the latest in a string of fine performances on the part of the stopper of late, with Martín beginning to grow into his role as a first-team regular.

Drawn on the recent form of his full-back star post-match on Sunday, Hansi Flick, in turn, went on to admit:

“With this level, Gerard Martín is putting pressure on Alejandro Balde.”

Conor Laird – GSFN