World Sports: Pedri is injured, De Jong + Casado + Fermin are likely to form the Barcelona midfield

World Sports wrote an article analyzing Barcelona's potential midfielder combination after Pedri's injury.

Pedri will be absent for several weeks due to injury, which poses a major challenge to Barcelona's formation. Pedri is a key part of Flick's tactical system. His absence not only affects the team's starting lineup, but also breaks the balance of the midfield. Especially for De Jong, who lost his best partner.

Currently, Flick has multiple options in the midfield position. The list includes 3 defensive midfielders (De Jong, Casado, Bernal) and 3 offensive players (Fermin, Olmo, Dero Fernandez). Flick needs to decide who will take over Pedri's role.

Facing Elche, Barcelona's most likely midfield combination is De Jong and Casado as double midfielders, while Fermin may serve as an attacking midfielder. However, Flick still needs to decide on De Jong's specific position: whether to continue using him as a defensive midfielder or move slightly forward to fill Pedri's void.

This season, Flick has tried both options. Although the team is more comfortable with De Jong as the "No. 6", De Jong's passing vision, ball control ability and link-up ability make him the best candidate to replace Pedri.

In addition, Flick also briefly used Bernal and Fermin to fill this position. However, Bernal's physical condition is still unknown, and Olmo's injury makes Fermin more likely to serve as an attacking midfielder.

In this case, Flick placed his hope on De Jong. The Dutchman needs to take on more responsibilities, supporting the team from the midfield and controlling the tempo of the game. No one in the dressing room doubts the importance of De Jong, who is regarded as one of the most underrated but indispensable players in the team.

So far this season, De Jong has played 11 times, 8 of which were in La Liga and 3 in the Champions League. He has played a total of 643 minutes in domestic leagues and 211 minutes in European competitions, which fully proves De Jong's core position in Flick's tactical system.

Facing the new challenge of Pedri's injury, Flick must re-adjust the midfield configuration to ensure the team's stability and rhythm, and De Jong will become a key figure in maintaining this balance.