Barcelona will look to consolidate their position in the top eight of the UEFA Champions League league phase against Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park.

Both teams have identical records in five Champions League games, although Dortmund have struggled domestically and sit sixth in the Bundesliga. It’s a battle between the competition’s two highest-scoring teams to date, with the Catalans facing notoriously hostile and intimidating territory.

Hansi Flick’s men have struggled in La Liga over the last month. The well-oiled machine from the early days of his tenure is beginning to show cracks as fatigue among overworked key players increases. Just one win in their last five league games has seen Barcelona’s lead shrink to just one point over Real Madrid and Los Blancos still have a game in hand.

However, Flick’s team remains strong in Europe. A win against Dortmund would almost guarantee the Blaugrana a place in the round of 16 with two games remaining.

Ronald Araújo will return to the Barcelona squad for the first time since suffering an injury while playing for Uruguay in last summer’s Copa America. It’s a much-needed boost for a defensive team that needs rest in the coming weeks. Flick is likely to stick with a similar lineup to that used in Barça’s last two games, hoping for a performance that can restore the confidence of his recently faltering side.

Barcelona could play against Borussia Dortmund on December 11th.

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TW: Iñaki Pena—Peña will have to do his best to contain an attack that has scored 16 goals in five Champions League games.

RB: Jules Koundé—Koundé has been shaky lately as players have managed to get behind him with relative ease in recent games.

CB: Pau Cubarsí—Both Barça centre-backs will be keen to impress Flick given Araújo’s return.

CB: Iñigo Martinez—Martínez has been great this season, but Barcelona’s high defensive line has been exposed of late and he doesn’t have the recovery speed to compensate for any positional errors.

LB: Alejandro Balde—When Héctor Fort or Gerard Martín replaced Balde, they both had problems. Balde has become of paramount importance for Flick’s team.

CM: Marc Casadó—Casadó has beaten Frenkie de Jong in the starting XI and continues to demonstrate his La Masia style of play in central midfield.

CM: Pedri—Pedri looked tired in the second half against Real Betis and will certainly need to take a break soon. However, Flick cannot afford to keep his orchestra leader out of the lineup in such a big game.

RW: Lamine Yamal—The teenager continues to play like one of the sport’s best players.

AM: Gavi—Gavi played in this position in the final minutes against Brest and looked solid. Since his return from injury, he has struggled to secure a place in the eleven. Given Dani Olmo’s poor performance against Betis, the former golden boy could get another opportunity to impress Flick.

LW: Raphinha—Raphinha also looked exhausted against Betis and had no impact on the game as he had earlier in the season.

ST: Robert Lewandowski: The Polish striker has scored 27 goals against his former team, the most against a single club in his career.

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