Balde sentenced

Balde benched at Atlético as Flick deployed De Jong at right-back; the 23-year-old has played just 124 minutes across 16 games this season.

Alejandro Balde endured one of the toughest moments of his career on Sunday at the Metropolitano. With Atlético Madrid exploiting Barcelona's right flank through Álex Baena, Hansi Flick made a half-time change—but not in Balde's favour.

Rather than moving Joao Cancelo to right-back to bring Balde in on the left, Flick instead deployed Frenkie de Jong at right-back for the first time, leaving Balde resigned on the bench.

Balde's numbers this season are stark: he has appeared in just five of 16 official matches, always from the bench, totalling 124 minutes—just over 8% of available playing time. His longest appearance came in the Clásico (60 minutes), only because of an injury to Xavi Espart. Even Gerard Martín, who has never played left-back before, has been preferred.

With Barcelona potentially signing a left-sided centre-back in January, Balde's situation is becoming untenable. At 23 with a promising future, his agent Jorge Mendes is exploring options. Manchester United and Roma enquired about him last summer; a loan, permanent transfer, or loan with option to buy could all be on the table.