Barcelona right-back puts up impressive numbers in terms of his minutes played – Report | OneFootball

FC Barcelona have been dealing with the consequences of a rather packed schedule this season. With the number of games increasing across the football calendar, the Catalan club is just one of the sides that has been impacted by it. Ultimately, it has forced Hansi Flick to rotate as much as possible at Barcelona while keeping the team’s competitiveness alive.

However, it is unfortunately impossible for most players to feature in every single game. Thus, it becomes a challenge for any top-level coach to judge and decide which games call for rotations and which games require the team to have their best players available.

At Barcelona, that has meant that most players have been rotated at one point or another. However, there is a certain player in the team who has barely needed any sort of rest and continues to be the one player in Hansi Flick’s squad that has accumulated the most minutes this season.

As highlighted by SPORT, French defender Jules Kounde has been Flick’s most used player this season. Where others have needed rest or some sort of a break, Kounde has been available and has played more or less everything possible in this ongoing campaign.

Within his 33 appearances, he has accumulated around 2722 minutes. To put that into perspective, both Raphinha (31 games played) and Pau Cubarsi (32 games played) have accumulated less minutes in total this season as their appearances have been more managed at times.

The Brazilian forward has played 2627 minutes this season whereas the Spanish defender has played 2560 minutes. That simply goes on to show just how reliable and consistent Kounde has been for the German coach during this ongoing campaign, and he has the performances to match that faith.

Both offensively and defensively, the French right-back has arguably had his most productive season at Barcelona yet. Matching the statistics of some of the best attacking fullbacks in the world while simultaneously being careful about his defensive duties, Kounde has been a great all-rounder.

With three goals and seven assists across all competitions, Kounde has fully adapted to the right-back role that he reportedly used to dislike in the past. Interestingly, however, the only occasions where he did not get Flick’s blessing to start were when he reportedly arrived late to team meetings and had to serve his punishment.