Barcelona will be confronted on Wednesday evening with a well-known enemy in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, a second side in the knockout phase with which they have already had to deal with in the competition phase. Borussia Dortmund takes on the Blaugrana in Montjuic, but they have a new manager in Niko Kovac, who replaced Nuri Sahin for the knockout phase.
A manager where Hansi Flick is very familiar with. Kovac was Bayern Munich manager at Flick as his assistant before he finally replaced him, and won the Treble in 2020 that season.
“It is something I have thought of a lot about, I know a lot about Nico, I don't know if that helps me or not. We know we should be well prepared. He is a great coach, a great person, and it makes me happy to see him coaching back in a top club. But we will be well prepared.”
Dortmund miss a number of players due to injury and lost Nico Schlotterbeck on Monday. Their Ster Central Defender, he is excluded for the rest of the season with a torn meniscus.
“They are a very good team. Niko will be able to play a good line -up. They are defensively strong, and I wish the injured players the very best, I know Nico, I send him my best from Barcelona. They have very good players, and it's a shame, but they have enough players to cover their absence.”
Flick was not going to make changes to prevent Kovac's knowledge of him, or the changes to Dortmund.
“We are clear about how we want to play and we have entered into some obligations. We want to stay in the Champions League; we have to concentrate on the things that matter.”
For four months, the draw divorce from their collision that ended 3-2 to the Catalans in the Signal Iduna Park. Flick explained that this time his side would be confronted with a much more confident outfit.
“Their self -confidence has changed a bit. Their death has been sharper. The results they have had in the Champions League and the Bundesliga have given them faith. They have more concrete goals. They are a team with a great pace, they are thinking a lot in attack, and we will have to be task.”
The Blaugrana were unbeaten in 2025, with 17 victories and three draws to their name, but their stalemate with real betis was a strong memory of their death this weekend. The Blaugrana goes into the game to miss different players, with Marc Casado, Marc Bernal, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and recently Dani Olmo completely out of operation.