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Junior Firpo set to fill in at Barcelona

By Ernesto Hernandez

Junior Firpo of Barcelonain action during the Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Betis Balompie at Camp Nou on August 25, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Junior Firpo of Barcelonain action during the Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Betis Balompie at Camp Nou on August 25, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /
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With the injury to Jordi Alba, Junior Firpo now has his chance to impress at Barcelona.

Barcelona signed Junior Firpo from Real Betis this past summer to provide adequate back-up for Jordi Alba. Depth at left-back is something the club struggled with last season after the manager seemed to lose faith in Juan Miranda.

So far this season, the Spanish international has only featured as a substitute in the club’s week 2 victory against his former club, Betis.

But Firpo now has an opportunity to prove that he’s more than just a depth player.

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Barcelona confirmed that Jordi Alba suffered an injury in their Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund.

According to Diario Sport, the club confirmed the player’s hamstring injury and is expected to be out around two to three weeks.

This means Alba will miss the games against Granada, Villarreal, and Getafe.

For Firpo, it means that an opportunity has presented itself to impress Ernesto Valverde. It has been a bit of a struggle to do that so far. When Alba got injured, Nelson Semedo was forced to left-back because Firpo was left out of the match day squad.

Barcelona shuffled a handful of options during the summer in their efforts to find competition for Jordi Alba. Firpo’s signing came late in the summer as Barcelona negotiated with Betis at the behest of Valverde.

Firpo got injured prior to the game against Osasuna but had featured very little up until then. As mentioned, that position has given the club problems in the past as no one has managed to take it from Alba.

Lucas Digne was brought in a couple of seasons back under Luis Enrique and did a serviceable job but was sold later on to Everton. Juan Miranda was chosen over Marc Cucurella from the B team to be the heir apparent and the latter was loaned out to Eibar.

After a poor performance in a cup game, Miranda was never called upon again. Despite buying Cucurella back from Eibar, he was then sold to Getafe where he’s done a good job.

Firpo will need to get acclimated quickly as the fullbacks are, or at least used to be, an important part of the Barcelona style. After Messi, Alba has arguably been the most important component of their attack under Valverde.

Next. Barcelona are not using De Jong in his best position. dark

Fortunately for Firpo, the schedule is a relative favorable one which should allow him to time to integrate into the system and get to know the movements of the front three. With Alba getting up there in age, the need for a replacement is coming up fast.