Flick eyes midfielders in defence and teenage debut as Barcelona face PSG with three defenders out

Barcelona travel into their Champions League meeting with Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, October 20, without Jules Koundé, Eric Garcia, or Andreas Christensen, leaving Hansi Flick with just five fit senior defenders and a set of unconventional solutions at the back.

Koundé and Garcia were both injured on Sunday, October 18, compounding an already stretched defensive picture. Christensen, also unavailable, had already been ruled out ahead of the fixture. The three absences have prompted Flick to identify midfielders Rodri Hernández and Frenkie de Jong as emergency centre-back options against a PSG side that represents one of Barcelona’s most demanding European tests of the season.

Also in the squad is 18-year-old centre-back Alex Campos, who has yet to make a senior appearance for the club. His inclusion gives Flick a third route through the problem — one that would hand the teenager his Barcelona debut in a Champions League fixture at the Parc des Princes.

Raphinha adds another dimension to Flick’s selection headache. The Brazilian winger could return to the starting XI for the first time since September 19 after recovering from a hamstring problem, offering the coach at least one positive selection dilemma amid the defensive disruption.

Flick has indicated that the situation at centre-back is a short-term problem rather than a structural one. Speaking ahead of the match, the Barcelona coach said he expects Koundé to be available for Sunday’s La Liga fixture against Real Madrid on October 25 — a return that would arrive five days after the PSG game and give Barcelona a more settled defensive unit for the Clásico.

The immediate decision, however, is whether to deploy a midfielder in the back line, hand Campos his debut, or combine both approaches against PSG. Each option carries risk against a side of PSG’s calibre, and the choice will define how Barcelona set up for one of the most high-profile European nights of their season so far.