{"id":43816,"date":"2026-02-07T20:10:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T14:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=43816"},"modified":"2026-02-07T20:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T14:41:09","slug":"why-is-frenkie-de-jong-on-the-bench-against-rcd-mallorca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/football\/la-liga\/why-is-frenkie-de-jong-on-the-bench-against-rcd-mallorca\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is Frenkie de Jong on the bench against RCD Mallorca?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"auto\">FC Barcelona face RCD Mallorca in a key La Liga clash at Spotify Camp Nou, but one notable name is missing from the starting lineup: star midfielder <strong>Frenkie de Jong<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Head coach <strong>Hansi Flick<\/strong> addressed the decision directly, stating: <em>\u201cFrenkie isn\u2019t at 100% and that\u2019s why we\u2019ve decided he should start on the bench.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udea8 Hansi Flick: \"Frenkie isn't at 100% and that's why we've decided he should start on the bench.\"<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bar\u00e7a Universal (@BarcaUniversal) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BarcaUniversal\/status\/2020144392577671588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 7, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">This comes as Barcelona manage a busy schedule and prioritize player fitness. De Jong has been a key figure in midfield this season, delivering consistent performances with his vision, passing, and control. However, Flick has opted for caution to ensure the Dutch international is fully fit rather than risking any setback.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Recent reports and lineup announcements confirm De Jong is rested or not at full sharpness, with alternatives like <strong>Marc Casad\u00f3<\/strong>, <strong>Dani Olmo<\/strong>, or <strong>Ferm\u00edn L\u00f3pez<\/strong> stepping in to anchor the midfield. This rotation helps maintain squad freshness amid injuries to players like Pedri, Gavi, and Raphinha, while keeping Barcelona competitive in their push for La Liga success.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Fans can expect De Jong to feature from the bench if needed, providing quality and experience when called upon. The focus remains on securing three points against a solid Mallorca side while protecting key assets for upcoming fixtures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FC Barcelona face RCD Mallorca in a key La Liga clash at Spotify Camp Nou, but one notable name is\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":43817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4651],"tags":[3311],"class_list":["post-43816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-liga","tag-frenkie-de-jong"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43816"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43828,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43816\/revisions\/43828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}