Frenkie de Jong fills unfamiliar right-back role in Barcelona win

Frenkie de Jong made an unusual appearance at right-back as Barcelona secured a 2-1 victory away to Atlético Madrid. The Netherlands international entered the match from the bench, with Hansi Flick initially asking him to operate on the right side of defence.

According to De Telegraaf, De Jong has played only four times for Barcelona this season because of a persistent knee injury. Despite that limited involvement, Flick has already deployed him in three different positions. He initially returned in his customary central-midfield role before being used in central defence last week.

Flick said he checked whether De Jong was comfortable filling in at full-back. The midfielder replied that “if the team needs me there, I want to help,” the coach told De Telegraaf. Flick’s plan was to use him at right-back for around 15 minutes and then move him further forward, a decision the German felt worked well.

The win left Barcelona alone at the top of La Liga heading into the international break. Flick also praised his side’s response after defeats by Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, insisting Barcelona had not played poorly in those matches and remained confident in their system. De Jong can now turn his attention to international duty with the Netherlands following his injury-disrupted start to the club campaign.