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Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen talks recovery, role in team, and his future

Defence has been one of the areas where Hansi Flick has missed some of his most important players ever since he took charge of the FC Barcelona team.

Both Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen have been unable to play since the very beginning of the season, while Eric Garcia has also suffered some physical problems in the last few weeks.

However, Garcia has already returned and Araujo is also quite near to making his return to the pitch. The latter can do so as soon as Barcelona visit Real Betis for their next league match after the game against Mallorca tonight.

With his return, only Andreas Christensen will remain as the long-term absentee in the Barcelona defence, as he continues to recover from the tendinopathy in his left Achilles tendon.

As Mundo Deportivo has reported, the defender recently appeared in an interview and revealed that he is also getting nearer to full recovery, and also talked about his future at the Catalan club.

Regarding his recovery, the Dane was clear that he is already past his worst days:

“It’s been quite some time, so I decided to speak out. I’m feeling good; we’ve reached a turning point. I underwent a minor surgery. It’s so small that it could be considered more of a clean-up. It shouldn’t affect my return timeline; in fact, it might even speed it up.”

When asked about his future at the Catalan club, the Danish defender replied with unwavering confidence, saying firmly, “Yes.”

In recent days, he has also been linked with a move away from Barcelona, but the defender was quite clear in this interview that he will continue at the Blaugrana club, and also opened up on his talks with the Catalan side:

“You can’t do anything but smile when you don’t listen to the noise. I can only talk about the conversations I’ve had with the club, and so far, they’ve only told me to focus on getting ready and that they’re looking forward to my return.”

Once he recovers, Christensen will face the difficult task of competing with the likes of Inigo Martinez, Pau Cubarsi, Ronald Araujo, and Eric Garcia for a starting spot, but he was quite confident that he will be able to do so:

“I approach it with the mindset that it will be tough. They’ve done incredibly well, and it’s up to me to beat them out. The ultimate goal is to return and play as many matches as possible, but it will be a challenge.”

Lastly, the Dane also opened up about the position where he might play once he returns to the pitch:

“It’s been a while since I spoke with him about tactical matters, but I played as a No. 6 in pre-season, so that might be an option. However, I think it will mainly be as a central defender, which is also where I’d most like to play.”

This season, Inigo Martinez and Pau Cubarsi have been playing a lot of minutes as Araujo and Christensen have been unavailable. But with their returns, Barcelona will have a lot more depth at the center-back position, and this will allow Flick to rotate his defenders more often.