Hansi Flick should start €90m Barcelona midfield star against Leganes – Opinion | OneFootball

FC Barcelona are set to face Leganes in La Liga on Sunday night in a game that the Catalan club are expected to win, at least on paper. At home, against a relegation-threatened side, Hansi Flick’s men will be expected to walk away with the three points.

Having played an extremely intense game midweek against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League where the Catalan side was tested to their limits for the entire 90-odd minutes, Hansi Flick could choose to rotate a few players against Leganes.

One player who was taken off early against Dortmund midweek was Raphinha, who seemed to be suffering from a bout of cramps. It was rare to see the Brazilian go off early, considering Hansi Flick hardly substitutes him during games this season.

Another player who accumulated a lot of minutes under his belt in recent weeks is Pedri. His injury issues seem to be a thing of the past and the Spanish midfielder is having an unbelievable season but it is very important to manage his minutes.

The Leganes clash provides Flick with the perfect opportunity to rest the 22-year-old Spaniard and bring in his place Gavi. The La Masia graduate has been used sparingly since his return from his long injury layoff but he could do with a start here.

A very different player to Pedri, if Flick starts Gavi, Barcelona are bound to lose some control in midfield but playing him alongside Marc Casado might not be a bad option. The latter can take care of the tempo of the game with the €90m-rated star doing what he does best.

Gavi looked the part when handed a start against Celta Vigo just after the November break. It might have been a game that Barcelona went on to draw under extraordinary circumstances but it still was a good display from the 20-year-old.

Everything points to the Leganes game being the ideal one to hand the Spanish midfield star a much-deserved start. Let’s wait and see if Hansi Flick thinks alike and hands Gavi what will be just his third start of the campaign.