The damage Rodri and De Jong could do together

Flick's staff impressed with De Jong's recovery; exploring midfield partnership with Rodri that Manchester City once considered.

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick's coaching staff are pleased with Frenkie de Jong's form in training following his injury recovery, viewing him as operating at an optimal level of speed, control and dominance. Over two years, Flick has used De Jong in 84 matches, often alongside Pedri in midfield during Barcelona's back-to-back league titles.

Flick is now exploring a midfield pairing between Rodri and De Jong—a combination that has never been seen before and which Manchester City once studied the possibility of forming before De Jong joined Barcelona in 2019. Against Real Madrid, Flick deployed De Jong in an advanced midfield role rather than alongside Rodri and Pedri in the engine room, positioning him as a key playmaker. The coaching staff see De Jong as having more penetration toward goal, while Pedri offers more creativity in the final pass.

Flick has already established strong understanding between Rodri and Pedri at Barcelona, with the pair playing from memory after 13 matches together. The question now is how quickly Rodri and De Jong can develop similar automatism to unlock Barcelona's attacking play.