Before Flick took charge of Barca, Xavi had tried everything but could not find a replacement worthy of Sergio Busquets' position. Xavi once tried to play for Frenkie de Jong in that position, but the Dutch midfielder was constantly injured. Center back Eric Garcia was also tested but failed.
Before Busquets left the team to go to Inter Miami, he was paired by Xavi with De Jong in the center of midfield. In the 2022-2023 season, Barca won La Liga for the first time in 4 years. However, Busquets chose to leave the shirt and since then, Barca have not had a replacement.
Oriol Romeu has also tried and was quite successful, but only when he played with Frenkie de Jong in the midfield area. By the time De Jong was injured, Romeu had lost his ability and lost confidence. In the context of no longer having enough finances, Barca is no longer able to buy new players in this position because all resources are being concentrated on Nico Williams. Therefore, La Masia could once again become the club's salvation.
Barcelona just ended a friendly match with Man City in the US, Blaugrana was the winner on penalties. In this match, captain Hansi Flick introduced many Academy stars, notably the midfielder duo Marc Casado and Marc Bernal.
Last season, Marc Casado (20 years old) was the captain of the Barcelona youth team under coach Rafa Marquez. He is set to play in a defensive midfield role. However, after Hector Fort was promoted to the first team, Casado had to take on the additional positions of full-back and attacking midfielder.
In June, Casado agreed a contract extension with Barca until 2028 and was announced to be part of the first team's plan. Casado is considered by the Barcelona coaching staff to have good vision, likes to talk about tactics every day and read the game well.
In the squad that will take him to the US this time to tour, Flick has another star named Marc, which is Marc Bernal. This year, at the age of 17, Bernal has been with La Masia for 10 years. The defensive midfielder's highlight is his impressive height (191 cm). Now, Bernal is improving his speed and aerial combat to perfect his skill set.
In terms of tactics, Casado is expected to get into the rhythm faster because he had the opportunity to debut for the first team last season. Meanwhile, Bernal needs to practice more. However, if we consider the level of interest in the transfer market, Bernal stands out more than Casado. The 17-year-old midfielder is receiving offers from England and Germany. Bernal has not yet had any intention of leaving La Masia.
Barca fans were delighted to see the pair Marc used by Flick in the midfield in the match against Man City. The ability to switch positions and enthusiasm are the most clearly felt things. Regarding the specific position, Bernal sometimes dropped a little deeper for Casado to take the lead. It was Casado who made a skillful squeeze of the ball in the process that led to Pau Victor's opening goal in the 24th minute.
Testing La Masia elements in the pre-season tour is extremely important for Hansi Flick at the moment. It is not yet clear whether Casado will pair up with De Jong or this will be Bernal's first-team debut season.
However, at least this young couple has shown that they are ready for the challenge of finding the position left by the legendary Sergio Busquets.
