BARCELONA: Barcelona coach Hansi Flick is delighted to have midfielder Frenkie de Jong back available after injury ahead of the Champions League match against Young Boys on Tuesday. The Dutch international will be named in the squad to face the Swiss champions and Flick says he is ready for a brief cameo, having not played since April. De Jong, 27, has been out since then with an ankle injury and missed the European Championship this summer as a result.

“This is super good news to have Frenkie back with us, whether it’s for five or 10 minutes, he’s very important for us,” Flick told a news conference Monday. “Frenkie’s attitude is great, he’s been involved with the team, he’s been willing to help the team, we needed his presence. “He’s gonna be ready, not to play 45 mins but 20 or 10 and it will do him a lot of good.” The Catalan giants have various other players out injured still including Gavi and Ronald Araujo, while Eric Garcia is suspended after a red card in the Champions League opener against Monaco.

Barcelona lost on the road against the Ligue 1 side and have struggled in Europe in recent years. Last season they reached the last eight for the first time in four seasons and the five-time champions have not lifted the trophy since 2015. “We want to win all the games, the team and me as a coach, and I’m very positive we can do that,” added Flick. “We work well, training hard, play good entertaining football and if we need to gain respect of our opponents once again then we’ll work hard on that.” — AFP