MADRID, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona faces a stiff test of its leadership in La Liga on Saturday when Villarreal visits the Camp Nou Stadium.
Although Barcelona won the corresponding fixture 2-0 in Villarreal in December, Villarreal is third in La Liga and with an enviable record away to Barcelona in recent years, with a 3-2 win in its last visit to Barcelona, a 5-3 victory in January 2024 and a 2-0 triumph back in May 2022.
Saturday's match also comes just four days before Barcelona entertains Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal needing to overturn a 4-0 first leg deficit and coach Hansi Flick will have to decide if he is going to reserve any players to attempt a fightback.
Flick's options to rotate his starting 11 suffered a setback in midweek when Frenkie de Jong suffered a hamstring injury that will keep the Dutch international out of action for around six weeks.
Although Pedri returned after a lay-off with a similar injury as a second half substitute in last weekend's 3-0 win at home to Levante, Flick is unlikely to want to risk a player with a history of hamstring issues for a full 90 minutes on Saturday and that should see Marc Bernal continue in the middle of the pitch.
"We don't like it when a player can't play, especially a player of Frenkie's quality. It's not an easy time," said the coach in his pre-game press conference, where he tried to be positive, saying the injury "gives us the opportunity to give other players playing time."
"Every team has problems," continued Flick, who insisted he had "a lot of quality in the squad and several options to play with."
Flick also spoke about Newcastle United, who Barcelona will play in the last-16 of the Champions League.
"They have a great team and we will have to be at out best to beat them," he advised, recalling Barcelona had been forced to dig deep before Marcus Rashford's winning goal in the group stage in Newcastle's St James' Park Stadium earlier this season. Enditem
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