When Barcelona defeated Deportivo Alaves 3-0 in La Liga on Sunday, Hector Fort started in the right-back position instead of Jules Kounde. It was the first time that the versatile French defender was left out of Barca's starting eleven all season by gaffer Hansi Flick.
Kounde, who has been in red-hot form all season, was believed to have been given a deserved day off by his manager. However, it turns out that was not the case. Kounde was left out of Barcelona's starting eleven by Flick as a punishment. The defender failed to turn up for the Catalan team's pre-game meeting on time, which irked Flick.
The former Bayern Munich manager, hellbent on his disciplinary principles, decided to punish Kounde for taking the team meet lightly, Spain-based Sport said in a report. Many of his players were warned about breaking punctuality rules by Flick throughout the season but Kounde became the first to be punished, the report added.
Robert Lewandowski scored a hat trick in a 25-minute span as Barcelona won the last game of the Spanish top league before the international break.
In another development, Barcelona's Spain forward Ferran Torres suffered a hamstring injury and will be out of action for an indefinite period, the La Liga club said on Monday. Ferran could be out for six to eight weeks after he picked up the injury during the Alaves game. Barcelona are navigating an injury crisis, with Dani Olmo, Gavi, Fermin Lopez, Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo, and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen among the players sidelined."