Jules Koundé reaches yet another milestone of consistency at Barcelona | OneFootball

The 2024/2025 season has certainly proved to be hectic for FC Barcelona and Hansi Flick. With injuries to key players, and the opponents being some of the best in the world, Flick has had to work with what he had since the start of this season.

But with 2025 kicking off and Flick finally getting his injured players back, the German has slowly started to rotate players who have accumulated a lot of minutes.

Whilst the Barcelona coach has started to rotate some players. A few players have accumulated an absurd number of minutes. Especially when it comes to the case of Jules Koundé.

Not only has Jules Koundé been racking up a very high number of minutes played under Flick this season. But the number of consecutive games since December 3, 2023, that he has played is an outrageous statistic on its own.

As highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona’s recent clash against Alavés marked an astonishing milestone for Jules Koundé, as the French defender extended his streak to 68 consecutive appearances for the club. Since December 3, 2023, Koundé has featured in every single match for Barça, starting 64 times and coming off the bench on just four occasions.

In the ongoing 2024-2025 campaign, Barcelona has contested 34 matches across all competitions—22 in La Liga, eight in the Champions League, two in the Copa del Rey, and two in the Spanish Supercopa.

Koundé has started 32 of those, with his only two substitute appearances coming in the first-leg clash against Alavés and the Catalan derby. His benching against Alavés was reportedly a disciplinary measure by Hansi Flick after the defender arrived late to the activation session.

Last season (2023-2024), Koundé became an irreplaceable figure for Barcelona following December 3, playing 34 matches—23 in LaLiga, three in the Champions League, three in the Copa del Rey, and two in the Supercopa. Once again, he missed only two starts, highlighting his reliability and importance to the squad.

According to Barça’s unofficial records, Koundé has now surpassed the consecutive appearances of club legends, with Xavi believed to have played 62 games in a row and Iniesta 64.

While this highlights Hansi Flick’s trust in him as a key player, it also raises concerns about the French defender being overplayed and overly relied upon.

Flick’s tenure at Barcelona has been largely positive so far. However, one debatable aspect of his management is his heavy reliance on certain players, particularly Lamine Yamal, Pedri, and Koundé.

While it is natural for footballers to want to play as many matches as possible and for managers to depend on their best players, this approach is neither sustainable nor wise in the modern game.

With fixture congestion already a major talking point in football, squad rotation has become more important than ever. This is especially true for Barcelona, a club that has struggled with frequent injuries to key players.

As Barcelona prepares to face Valencia in the Copa del Rey, it will be interesting to see whether Flick opts to rest Koundé and give Héctor Fort an opportunity. Having recently faced the same opponent just a few weeks ago, this could be the perfect moment for Koundé’s streak of consecutive appearances to come to an end for his own benefit.