FC Barcelona fans and pundits that cover the club are debating whether Hansi Flick’s first team should rotate players against Leganes in La Liga this weekend, or in next Tuesday’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg clash at Borussia Dortmund.
Despite suffering what Flick famously called a “sh*t November”, which saw it blow a six point lead over Real Madrid achieved by stuffing Carlo Ancelotti’s men 4-0 in the Bernabeu, Barca has since bounced back to boast a four-point Spanish top flight advantage of its own at the expense of the eternal enemy.
In the Champions League, it is putting the same number of goals past last year’s finalists that lost to Madrid at Wembley on Wednesday which means Barca has one foot in the semifinals for the first time since 2019 despite Flick’s protests to the contrary.
Flick now has an important decision to make. It centers around whether he should rest players at the weekend, or if the comfortable deficit in his side’s favour means it can give some secondary stars a run out in Dortmund with one eye on Celta Viga in Montjuic back in the league on April 19.
Barca’s relatively slim four-point cushion separating it from Madrid in the league means that it has to go for broke in what could be a tricky encounter with a Leganes side that is in the first relegation spot and will be fighting for its life.
A slip up in Butarque could mean Barca boasts just a one point lead going into El Clasico on May 11 providing Madrid also beats Alaves away this coming Sunday.
Then it’s a trip to Dortmund on the cards, where Flick can theoretically rest a good number of those that have played against Alaves to be fresh for Celta.
Though they are still putting in good performances and scoring, it is clear the likes of Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Pedri and Robert Lewandowski could do with a breather.
Perhaps that would be disrespectful to Dortmund, however, and also a risky approach to take.
Though Barca is well in front in the tie, it can expect a high-pressure atmosphere in the Westfalenstadion where the famous “Yellow Wall” and others around a stadium that holds more than 81,000 punters will roar their team on. If Dortmund can get a couple of early goals, the quarterfinal clash could still be there for the taking.