Robert Lewandowski, Alejandro Balde and Marc Casadó are available for Sunday’s Clásico, but Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has confirmed that the trio will start the match from the bench against Real Madrid.
Lewandowski, who returned as a substitute in the midweek Champions League defeat against Inter Milan after missing four matches due to a hamstring injury, has suffered no aftereffects since then.
Balde has been absent from Barça’s last seven matches, including the Copa del Rey final and the two matches against Inter, also due to a hamstring problem, while Casadó has been out of action since March due to a knee injury.
“As starters, I don’t think it’s the right time for them,” Flick said at a press conference when asked if Lewandowski or Balde could start the match at the Olympic Stadium.
Hansi Flick
“Ferran [Torres] in attack and Gerard [Martín] on the left side are doing very well. When you see Gerard, how he is playing in a Champions League semi-final, it’s really great.
Casadó is also available. But we have to be careful. We have three more league games after Madrid. Tomorrow is more for them to come on in the second half.
Barça has the opportunity to distance itself by seven points with a victory against Madrid, with only nine points at stake after Sunday’s match between the Clásico rivals.
However, a Madrid victory would bring them within one point of Barça and reignite the title race with three games remaining.
Flick claims that Barça has recovered from its painful European exit at the hands of Inter in the middle of the week and is fully focused on beating Madrid for the fourth time this season, after having already overcome them in LaLiga, the Copa del Rey final, and the Spanish Super Cup final.
“After the defeat in Milan, everyone knows that it’s not easy after the match, but we are doing very well,” insisted the German coach.
Hansi Flick
We talked about that and what we want to do in the next two weeks. We have four games ahead. Of course, the Clásico is tomorrow and it is very important to show again how well we can play.
Everyone knows that you have to be at your highest level in the Clásico. We want to be active, see the intensity on the field, and be dominant as always. We know that Real is a fantastic team, but we are playing at home, we have our fans.
Real will try everything to win, like us. I don’t care about the table at the moment. We have to win. We want to win. This is our mentality, our attitude. This is how we will start the match. We are focused on this match, nothing more.
