"What is he doing here", "We're cooked" - Barcelona fans surprised by star's inclusion in XI for UCL clash against Crvena Zvezda
Barcelona fans are surprised by manager Hansi Flick's decision to include Gerard Martin in their starting XI to face Crvena Zvezda. Both sides will face off in their UEFA Champions League league-stage clash at the Stadion Rajko Mitic today (November 6).
Flick has opted to go with Gerard Martin as the left full-back, rather than Alejandro Balde, who has been the usual go-to option. Balde has played 14 games in all competitions this season, with three appearances coming in the Champions League. meanwhile, Martin has only had one appearance in the continental competition, with his other nine games coming in La Liga.
Barcelona fans were expecting to see more of Balde today, but the 21-year-old will have to make an impact from the bench. Gerard Martin, on the other hand, will hope he can impress Hansi Flick with a quality performance against Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade). However, fans are not pleased with his inclusion, and they took to X (formerly Twitter) with comments like these:
"what is Martin doing here? Anyway in Hansi I trust🔵🔴" a fan conceded.
"Gerrard Martin 👀👀.. yeah we’re cooked" another claimed.
"Gerard Martin? Come on Flick !!!!!" a third complained.
"Gerard Martin startsðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜" this fan cried.
"Starting Martin makes me nervous. Last time it was a disaster," a fan warned.
"We are conceding. Gerard Martin fella plays…" another was annoyed.
Barcelona prepare to face Red Star Belgrade
The Serbian giants have had a bad start to their UEFA Champions League campaign this season, with zero points from three matches. They have yet to win a single game in the tournament and could potentially go four games without a win.
This is because Barcelona are overwhelming favorites to clinch all three points today. The Blaugrana have been in impressive form, scoring 10 goals and conceding just three in the Champions League. They lost to AS Monaco but followed it up with a 5-0 win over Young Boys and a 4-1 win over Bayern Munich.
Barcelona know they are one of the favorites to win the tournament this season, but Hansi Flick has tried to reduce those weighty expectations. In his press conference ahead of the game, he said (via Reuters):
"A team's form fluctuates a lot over a long season. The important thing is to focus on winning the next match. Sure, after the match against Bayern everything changed. But we are just starting. The important thing is how we finish the season. We could say that our goal is to be in the top eight."
With a win over Red Star, they will likely enter the top eight on the Champions League table, and Flick will be hoping for a quality performance from his players.