Did Hansi Flick drop Jules Kounde against Alaves as a 'punishment'? Here is the answer

FC Barcelona gaffer Hansi Flick reportedly dropped Jules Kounde from Barcelona's starting eleven against Alaves as a disciplinary measure. 

Jules Kounde did not start for FC Barcelona against Alaves in the LaLiga and it surprised the fans to see Hector Fort replacing him in the starting eleven. It was a shocking move by Flick considering he started Kounde for every game in this season so far. 

Hansi Flick expressed his plans about not rotating the team in the pre-match press conference and that is why it seemed like a very sudden move for the German coach to bench Kounde who cemented his place in the team as a regular starter. Flick also told the reporters after the game that Kounde was rested. 

However, according to renowned journalist Toni Juanmartí of Diario Sport, Kounde was dropped from the team as a punishment because the Frenchman did not arrive on time for the pre-match talk. Hansi Flick finally decided to take action as he had already warned the players about the disciplinary rules and about punctuality before. 

ℹ️🔵🔴

La suplencia de Kounde en Vitoria no fue rotación, sino un ‘castigo’.

Llegó tarde a la charla pre-partido y Flick decidió modificar el once.

El alemán ya había avisado alguna otra vez con la puntualidad. Hoy pasó a la acción. https://t.co/VOQFYwuzw8

— Toni Juanmartí (@tjuanmarti) October 6, 2024

Kounde had minutes in the game anyway, as he was subbed on to replace Fort in the 67th minute of the game. 

Later, Hansi Flick was appreciated by the netizens and the fans as well for his strong control over the squad and his efforts to take the best out of the players in every possible way. 

However, FC Barcelona won their 8th LaLiga game already defeating Alaves by 3-0 after facing a shocking defeat against Osasuna in the last matchday. Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick in the first half which led the Catalan side to collect three more points and they are comfortably on top of the LaLiga table with 24 points in just 9 matches.