Hansi Flick inspires positional change for Barcelona defender

Barcelona return to action after the international break with a Catalan derby against Girona on Saturday afternoon. With only a week to go until El Clasico, there may be some changes made by Hansi Flick, and the same could also occur when Olympiacos arrive at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Tuesday.

Barcelona are dealing with a number of injury issues, but as of right now, they are unaffected in defence. Alejandro Balde has now returned from a hamstring strain, meaning that Flick has a full array of options in his back-line, although that may not stop him from an experiment or two.

And one of those could involve Andreas Christensen, who has struggled for regular minutes this season, given that he is behind Pau Cubarsi, Ronald Araujo and Eric Garcia in central defence.

During the international break, Christensen was ever-present for Denmark, as they defeated Belarus and Greece in World Cup qualifying. In the latter match, he started at right-back, which would have surprised Barcelona supporters, although Sport have revealed that it was Flick that inspired this decision.

In recent weeks, Flick proposed to Denmark head coach Brian Reimer the possibility of using Christensen as a right-back, given that he feels the 29-year-old is very capable of performing well in that position. The player himself also agreed, which led to him starting – and impressing – against Greece.

Christensen could be used at right-back in coming weeks

Now that Christensen, who recently revealed his desire to remain in Catalonia, has a taste for playing at right-back, there could be chances for him to feature there for Barcelona. Jules Kounde has struggled for consistency this season, while Eric appears to be more counted on in the centre of defence, thus creating an opportunity for the Dane.

It remains to be seen whether Christensen is used there in the coming weeks, with his first chance being against Girona on Saturday.