Veteran defender and club icon Jordi Alba finds himself frozen out of the starting lineup at Barcelona in the new season.
The 33-year-old started the first match of the 2022/23 campaign against Rayo Vallecano at Spotify Camp Nou. But since then, he has not started a single encounter, as manager Xavi Hernandez has put his faith in academy graduate Alejandro Balde instead.
Indeed, the teenage left-back has gotten the nod over Alba in the last three games which included crucial away trips to Real Sociedad and Sevilla.
The reason behind Alba’s sudden exclusion from the starting XI, as reported by Ricard Torquemada (h/t Maria Garridos) is that the club’s coaching staff did not like what they saw from the veteran defender in the opening match.
As per the report, on rewatching the season-opener against Rayo Vallecano, the Barcelona staff were unhappy with the efforts Alba was putting in on his flank.
The Blaugrana even made a late attempt in the transfer window to offload Alba to Inter Milan on loan. However, the veteran Spanish international rejected the chance to leave and stayed put in order to fight for his place in the lineup.
The 33-year-old has been with the Catalan giants since 2012 when he arrived from Valencia and has been the first-choice at left-back for almost the entirety of his spell at Spotify Camp Nou, before losing his spot to Balde this term.
And Alba will not have it easy to reclaim his starting berth at left-back as Balde has made a big impression in the opportunities he has been offered. In addition to that, Barcelona have also brought in Marcos Alonso, who is well-liked by manager Xavi, making the task much harder for Alba.