After an excellent start to the season, FC Barcelona have slowed down significantly in the last few weeks as they have dropped 8 of their 9 possible points in the last three La Liga games.
This is quite curious as opposed to the start of the season, Hansi Flick has had access to significantly more players, who had to undergo spells on the sidelines because of injuries earlier.
The team amazed with its performances when it was quite stretched, and Flick had to rely mostly on his fixed starters. This allowed him to implement his ideas on a smaller group, but as they played almost all the matches in the initial phase of the season, these players are also now showing signs of fatigue.
It is clear that despite the return of some important players, Flick still relies a lot on the players with whom he started the season. SPORT has noted the difference in the minutes played by different Barcelona players, and the difference in this regard clearly shows the propensity of the German coach to keep relying on his trusted players.
Players like Inigo Martinez, Raphinha, and Lewandowski are hardly getting any rest, with them having accumulated 1686, 1666, and 1662 minutes respectively.
Similarly, other players like Kounde (1615 minutes), Cubarsi (1595), Pedri (1476), Yamal (1355), Casado (1305), and Balde (1214), have also played a lot of minutes since the start of the season.
On the other hand, some of the players who were important in the team in the previous seasons, but were unavailable at the start of this season have played only very few minutes despite having made their recoveries for quite some time now.
This is clearly the case with Fermin Lopez, Frenkie de Jong, and Gavi, who have played 472, 295, and 202 minutes respectively.
Similarly, the minutes of players like Eric Garcia (448), Gerard Martin (565), Hector Fort (295), and Pau Victor (176) also showcase the difference between the starters and the substitutes in this regard.
The case of Dani Olmo is quite different, as although he is a starter for Flick, he has played only 518 minutes, mainly because of physical problems.
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