Barcelona take on Borussia Dortmund at Sinal Iduna Park on Wednesday evening (9pm CEST), knowing that a win will take them within a few points of qualifying in the top eight of the Champions League. Manager Hansi Flick will do his utmost as the Blaugrana look for a response after more points drops in La Liga.
According to Sport, it will be Flick's strongest line-up, with exactly the same team as against Real Betis on the field. Robert Lewandowski, Dani Olmo, Pedri and Raphinha were all taken off early in the match so they could rest better against Dortmund.
MD agrees with that assessment, and with Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal and Ansu Fati injured, he is left without a range of alternatives. Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Ferran Torres still have to convince Flick of their value in the starting XI after recovering from injuries. The good news is that Ronald Araujo is back in the squad and is fit for the match, and could potentially return to action.
Nuri Sahin does not have centre-backs Waldemar Anton and Niklas Sule available, meaning he will likely improvise alongside Nico Schlotterbeck with Emre Can in defence. Both papers are also talking about Dortmund's line-up, which is missing Julian Brandt and Filipo Mane, with the former robbing Dortmund of one of their key creative outlets. With Jamie Gittens, Donyell Malen and Serhou Guirassy, the pace of Dortmund's front line against Barcelona's offside trap will be one of the key battles.
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