Several FC Barcelona players have clearly taken their game to the next level since the arrival of Hansi Flick on the bench. The improvement is most visible in the forward line, as Raphinha, Lewandowski, and Lamine Yamal are all scoring and creating goals for fun, even against some of the best sides in Europe.

But another player who is performing at a very high level this season is center-back Inigo Martinez, who has locked himself as a fixed starter under the German tactician and is now one of the leaders of the backline.

As Mundo Deportivo has noted, the improvement in the Spanish center-back’s importance in the team is clear from the number of games he is playing this season. In the whole of the last season, the Basque defender played a total of 16 games.

This season, he has already started 15 games, and the only game that he did not start, against Osasuna in La Liga, ended up in a loss for FC Barcelona.

His last season was clearly affected by injuries, and he was unable to get a sustained string of matches as competition in the backline was quite tough. But even then, he was a leader of the dressing room.

Now, with this increased importance in the team, Martinez has also firmly established himself as one of its leaders on the pitch as well.

This was quite visible in the last game against Red Star Belgrade, as he did not shy away from reprimanding a star as big as Robert Lewandowski when he lost two balls due to poor control, leading to counter-attacks from the Serbian team.

In addition to such more visible actions, it is Martinez who gives the team the pep talk before the games, and he is also the one who organizes the team’s backline for its highly effective offside trap. Thus, he is growing in the team as a leader, and Barcelona are taking full advantage of this situation.