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Barcelona’s strong position in the Champions League could allow Hansi Flick to tinker with his squad in Lisbon on Tuesday night.
Barca have won five in a row in the league stage and are only behind Liverpool in the 32-team table. A 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund All made it to the top-eight and last 16 last month.
Flick would have been thrilled to put Getafe away on his 2024/25 calendar, but a 1-1 draw in the capital means Barca LaLiga Title hopes suffered more.
His side have starred on the continental stage this season, and here is the squad the German manager could pick to face Benfica on Tuesday.
GK: Inaki Pena – Wojciech Szczesny started in the SuperCopa semi-final, but Pena has since taken over starting duties in Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s absence.
RB: Jules Kounde – The Barca full-back has been flying in recent outings, with Cound finding the back of the net again at the weekend.
CB: Ronald Araujo – The captain returned to the team at the start of the new year after Inigo Martinez was injured.
CB: Andreas Christensen – 17-year-old Pau Cubarsi has played a lot of football and it would be smart for Flick to rest him here. After a long time the German could once again call on Christensen.
LB: Alejandro Balde – Bald has enjoyed a surge in form of late, re-establishing himself as a key figure in this squad after a stop-start opening to 2024/25. left side, who faced racist exploitation At Getafe at the weekend, Kerem Akturkoglu will be tasked with slowing down on Tuesday.
Chief Minister: Mark Casado – The midfielder is rarely withdrawn, so some suspected he was injured when Flick picked him up at the weekend. However, that was not the case, and Casado will likely retain his position.
Chief Minister: Frankie De Jong – Padre’s fitness weaknesses have been gone this season, and there’s no need for Flick to hit the ground running by restarting him. De Jong is ready to come back.
RM: Fermin Lopez – Barca are well-stocked in the creative positions and Flick should be wise to his continued (but understandable) use of Lamin Yamal. With Counde marauding upfield, Fermin can be used wide on the right but has the freedom to work centrally.
AM: Gavi – Dani Olmo would have returned to the XI had he not picked up a muscle injury at Getafe, allowing Gavi to retain his place in the number ten role.
LM: Ferran Torres – Rafinha hasn’t been outstanding this season, but Flick has a useful option in Ferran. The versatile forward scored twice off the bench Dortmund Won 3-2.
ST: Robert Lewandowski – The Polish international doesn’t need more 90 minutes under his belt, but Flick has rarely left him out of his squad this season. Lewandowski leads the Barca scoring charts in the competition and has won seven times in six outings.
