Three talking points ahead of Leganes vs Barcelona | La Liga GW 31 | OneFootball

Hansi Flick made it clear in his pre-match press conference that his Barcelona dressing room is completely focused on the league game coming up against Leganes and not on the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal.

Barcelona have never been a club to ignore any competition at any stage of the season to prioritize another. With the treble now a very tangible dream, every point in La Liga is crucial until it is in the bag.

The Catalans will thus come out with all guns blazing against Leganes on Saturday night. With the hosts battling relegation and having beaten Barcelona once this season, Flick’s men must be at their best to take all three points.

There is, after all, simply no room to slacken out in the ongoing hectic schedule. Barça Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Leganes vs Barcelona.

Phasing out rotations

Barcelona were refreshing to watch in their midweek clash against Borussia Dortmund and showed no signs of teh fatigue that they showed against Real Betis.

The 4-0 win in the UEFA Champions League, however, eases the pressure for the second leg next week. While Barcelona will indeed have to put out a strong performance, Hansi Flick can dare to make some rotations on the night.

It thus becomes vital for the manager to optimally manage the situation, for it was initially anticipated that the game against Leganes would be his only chance to rotate.

With the pressure off his side and no compulsion on him to play his complete gala XI in Germany, the manager can phase his rotations strategically to give all his starters some time off this week.

What is critical, however, is optimally balancing the regular starters and the bench players cautiously so as to not significantly decrease the output.

The manager will likely look to start Ronald Araujo against Dortmund in the second leg given that defending the lead will be of priority.

Inigo Martinez can thus start alongside Pau Cubarsi in central defence tomorrow if the manager’s plan is to field Araujo midweek. Gerard Martin and Hector Fort should ideally start at left-back and right-back respectively.

Eric Garcia could start alongside Frenkie de Jong in midfield with Pablo Torre given a chance in the attacking midfield role.  In attack, the manager should look to give Lamine Yamal a break as well.

The decisive league matchday?

Barcelona can put pressure on Real Madrid. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Only eight matchdays remain in La Liga and every game brings Barcelona ever-so-close to the title that they so dearly desire.

Last weekend, the Catalans missed a massive chance to extend their lead at the top to six points but did move four points clear of second-placed Real Madrid after Los Blancos fell to Valencia at home.

This time around, they have a massive chance to take their lead to seven points in what could potentially be a crushing blow to Real Madrid’s title hopes, especially given the situation the current champions find themselves in.

Real Madrid fell to a humiliating 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal and are planning for a major comeback next week at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Coming back from that deficit will be difficult, but Real Madrid are determined to throw all they have got towards it. Needless to say, it comes at a price and that could well be paid in La Liga.

In order to keep his troops fresh for the second leg, Carlo Ancelotti is likely to rest all his big players including Antonio Rudiger, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, and Vinicius Jr. against Alaves at the weekend.

With the team already out of form, there is thus a huge chance Real Madrid drop points this weekend and help Barcelona go seven points clear, something that would mean Flick & co. can lose two of their next seven games and still take home the title.

Clinical finishing is key

Leganes are one of the teams who capitalised on Barcelona’s mid-season slump in December and even managed to take all three points off them.

In no capacity, however, does that imply that they were better than the Blaugrana or created more chances. Leganes were taken to the cleaners and opened up with ease by Barcelona on the night, but the Catalans simply could not find the back of the net.

In 90 minutes, Barcelona created a staggering xG of 2.63 against Leganes at home and boasted over 80% of the possession. In contrast, the opponents had an xG of just 0.4 in their 20% possession.

Yet, Barça failed to score a single goal and Leganes over-performed their xG as they found the back of the net through Sergio Gonzalez in just the fourth minute. The key tomorrow will be to learn from their mistakes.

While rotations may well be in full flow, Barcelona can only dream of the three points if they are able to capitalise on every chance they create.

Clinical finishing will be critical, and Ferran Torres may well be the man tasked with a bulk of the responsibility. Killing the game off with a few early goals would be ideal, for it will ease the pressure on Flick’s side and enable them to conserve energy.