Madrid-Barça: The three doubts that Hansi Flick must resolve in his lineup

FC Barcelona will have practically the entire squad available for the Supercopa de España final. With the exception of the three injured players (Ter Stegen, Marc Bernal, and Andreas Christensen), Hansi Flick will have 23 first-team players at his disposal, including Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor. Both players were rehabilitated by LaLiga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) after the precautionary measure granted by the Higher Sports Council (CSD) to Barça.

In this sense, the German will have at least three doubts until the last minute to define the XI with which the culés will go for the first title of the season. Although the team performed quite well in the semifinal against Athletic Club (0-2), the presence of Olmo, along with the reappearance of Ronald Araujo last Saturday in the Cup and the two clean sheets achieved by Wojciech Szczesny, opens the debate about who should be starters in the Clásico on Sunday.

Szczesny reopened the debate in goal

The first doubt in the azulgrana XI logically concerns the goal. Szczesny performed well in the matches against Barbastro and Athletic, although in the match against the Basques he had some inaccuracies in distribution that nearly cost him a goal against. Iñaki Peña was supposed to start against the 'lions', but a delay in training cost him the starting position in the Supercopa 'semis'. In principle, the Alicante player should return to the lineup for the final, as Flick does not usually extend his punishments for more than one match. Jules Koundé has already suffered this sanction from the coach in two league matches (Alavés and Espanyol).

Araujo, a tempting alternative against Madrid

In the center of defense, Araujo's return also opens the debate about who should accompany Iñigo Martínez in the Clásico. Pau Cubarsí had a very good game against Athletic, but he had some issues in the final stretch of 2024. Moreover, the 'charrúa' can lend a hand to Koundé in the difficult task of marking Vinicius, whom he knows better than anyone, beyond the growing rumors about his possible departure in January. However, the great work of the Iñigo-Cubarsí duo in the last Clásico played at the Santiago Bernabéu is a strong reason to keep the youth player in the XI, as Ronald also does not have the ideal competitive rhythm to endure 90' against Madrid (he only played against Barbastro).

The return of Dani Olmo jeopardizes Gavi's good moment

Regarding Dani Olmo's return, Flick will also find it difficult to decide what to do with the player from Terrassa. The '20' has not played since December 21 (he was a substitute against Atlético de Madrid), but his extra motivation after the incident with his registration could be a 'plus' against Madrid. Nevertheless, Gavi's great performance in the Supercopa semifinal gives strong reasons to keep the midfielder in the XI. The '6', in fact, was also part of the lineup against Atlético, where he was one of Barça's best players in the first half, alongside Pedri.