Barcelona Faces Challenging Interwar Match

Barcelona faces Real Sociedad at Lluis Companys in a challenging match, influenced by the recent Copa del Rey events against Atlético and the upcoming Champions League commitment against Benfica next Wednesday. Amidst these two battles, the Blaugrana need to maintain their positive league momentum to consolidate their leadership for another matchday and continue the rivalry with the two Madrid giants, who are in a similar situation.

The schedule remains relentless, filled with challenges before the international break at the end of March. There has been little time to digest the epic 4-4 draw against Atlético, and the Catalans are now immersed in another crucial league encounter. "We must focus on the match. There are no excuses. The schedule doesn't give us many options, but it's not easy to manage and adjust. We'll do what we can. We have three competitions and are fighting for three titles; when we started, no one expected us to be in this position on March 1," analysed Hansi Flick ahead of the clash.

Barcelona arrives at this fixture with a new warning about defensive reliability, as once again, they showed against Atlético that they are a team with a full arsenal to damage opponents, but also indicated that they need significant improvement in solidity. This is the area Flick must address as the season's final stretch approaches, with Barcelona still alive in all competitions. "I'm not worried about when we concede goals. We played well, but we also expended a lot of energy at the end of the match. We need to do things better as a team, we know that," he stated.

To achieve this, Flick will refresh his team in search of "fresh legs." The German coach will have all his players available except for the injured Ter Stegen and Marc Bernal, but he will make rotations with the Benfica clash in mind, making changes across all lines. Eric García might enter the defence to rest Cubarsí, Casadó will return to the double pivot, and there will be new faces upfront with Dani Olmo in the playmaker role and changes in the trident, where only Lewandowski seems certain after being a substitute against Atlético.

Opposite them will be a team facing a similar schedule situation, but they cannot afford to miss any opportunity if they want to be in Europe next season. The Txuri-urdin team desperately needs to win matches to move closer to a sixth place that will almost certainly grant access to the Europa League. This is the goal of a group arriving at Lluis Companys after a narrow defeat to Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey, but also after delivering one of the best performances of the season against Leganés in La Liga (3-0).

This performance is what the team clings to, having already shown in the first round that they can challenge Barcelona. Real Sociedad was the beginning of a slump for Flick's side in November, in a match where the Blaugrana went from being a goal-scoring machine to not managing a single shot on target. However, it will be difficult for Imanol's side to replicate such a performance, especially considering the Orio coach must overcome the injuries of Pacheco and Zakharyan, and particularly the suspensions of Becker, Aguerd, and Kubo.

Barcelona: Szczesny, Koundé, Eric García, Iñigo Martínez, Gerard Martín, Casadó, Frenkie de Jong, Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo, Raphinha, and Lewandowski.

Real Sociedad: Remiro, Aramburu, Aritz, Zubeldia, Javi López, Brais, Zubimendi, Sucic, Barrenetxea, Oyarzabal, and Sergio Gómez.

Referee: Quintero González (Andalusian Committee).

Stadium: Lluis Companys.

Time and TV: 16:15 h. Movistar LaLiga.