FC Barcelona go into their quarter-final second leg of the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund with their homework already done, but Hansi Flick is the first to be cautious. Since the final whistle in Montjuic, he has made it clear that nothing is done yet, that football is football and that there are still 90 minutes left to play.
The truth is that it seems that with the 4-0 win in the first leg, Barça has one foot and a half in a semi-final that they have not reached in the penultimate round of the Champions League since the 2018-19 season. In the duel at Montjuic, the Barça team got their offensive trident in tune with a goal from Raphinha, which would have been a ban on which Lewandowski would have scored with a brace and which would have been capped by Lamine Yamal.
With this result it seems difficult for Barça not to advance to the next round, but Flick knows exactly how Borussia Dortmund plays in their stadium, the Westfalenstadion, which will be packed to the rafters looking for an impossible comeback and he doesn’t want the team coached by his good friend Niko Kovac to get into the tie at any time.
Rotations in the starting eleven
Despite being cautious, the German coach is more than aware that much of the work has been done, so he is expected to give some of the undisputed starters a rest. In addition to the forced change of Balde for Gerard Martín due to the former’s injury, Iñigo Martínez may also be given a rest. His place in the starting eleven may be taken by Ronald Araujo.
Another possible change could be Gavi coming on for Fermín, while we will have to see how Raphinha is doing. The Brazilian ended up with an ankle injury and on Sunday he trained at a slower pace than his teammates.
In addition, Dani Olmo, after several days training with the group, was discharged on Sunday and will join the group that will be looking for a place in the semifinals. In principle, given the score of the first leg, he is not expected to play so as not to overwork the machine.
Possible XI for Barça
Goalkeeper: Szczesny
Defenders: Gerard Martín, Araujo, Cubarsí, Jules Koundé
Midfielders: De Jong, Pedri and Gavi
Forwards: Ferran Torres, Lamine and Lewandowski
Possible Borussia Dortmund XI
Goalkeeper: Kobel
Defenders: Ryerson, Can, Anton, Bensebaini
Midfielders: Nmecha, Chukwuemeka Adeyemi,
Forwards: Brandt, Gittens, Guirassy.