It has been a very good start to 2025 for Barcelona, who will hope to carry on their form at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan against Sevilla on Sunday. The players that Hansi Flick relies upon in Andalusia will be interesting to note, given that there has been some changes in recent weeks.
In the last week, Eric Garcia appears to have lifted himself above Ronald Araujo in the pecking order in central defence – having been selected to start the midweek Copa del Rey victory over Valencia. In his pre-match press conference (via MD), Flick spoke glowingly on the 24-year-old, who had been linked with a move away in January.
“Eric Garcia is fit and working well. As a 6 he does very well. Depending on the circumstances of each opponent, he is very flexible. He is happy and so are we. We’ll see how the season goes. He did a very good job in the last few games.”
Flick also spoke on Ansu Fati, who rejected a move away from Barcelona during the winter transfer window despite having no clear chance of playing minutes between now and the end of the season.
“It’s the plan we have with Ansu Fati. Sometimes you talk to the coach and a few days later you see what happens. Ter Stegen, Bernal and Christensen are injured. The rest are 21 players available, Ansu is improving and tomorrow we will see the list according to the options.”
Finally, Flick provided an update on Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, who has been out since suffering a serious knee injury back in September. Recent reports have suggested that the German goalkeeper could be available before the end of the season.
“Ter Stegen’s condition is private information like everything I know about with doctors. He has already started working, and it is the first step. Everything is on the right track, he has improved a lot and we are very happy.”
