Barcelona recovers Raphinha and De Jong

During his press conference on the eve of the match yesterday, Friday, Flick revealed the return of two of Barcelona's most prominent stars at an important time.

He told reporters about Raphinha, "If you ask him, he will tell you he is ready to start, but we are taking it step by step. We have a lot of matches in a short period, and we have to manage the situation appropriately."

The 29-year-old Brazilian winger has scored 14 goals in eight matches with Barcelona this season.

Raphinha had suffered a minor injury during his recent international participation with his national team, which prevented him from playing in the matches against Getafe in the Spanish League and Galatasaray in the Champions League.

As for the Dutch international De Jong (29 years old), he has not participated in any match this season due to a knee injury he sustained during the World Cup.

Flick said, "He gives us an additional option in midfield and we will see how his situation develops. He is training well and is ready to get some minutes. He looks very focused, and he is a top-class player."

The return of the duo is likely to ease some of the creative and scoring burden placed on young star Lamine Yamal.

The 19-year-old world champion has played the full 90 minutes in eight out of the ten official matches Barcelona has played this season, while he was substituted after an hour of play in the other two matches.

Flick said of him, "He is an exceptional player. We have to manage his playing minutes, but the most important thing is that he enjoys playing. This is the current situation and I don't want to spoil that."

After the weekend trip to La Cartuja stadium, Barcelona faces a difficult match on Tuesday against French side Paris Saint-Germain, the Champions League title holder for the past two seasons, before hosting Real Madrid, led by Portuguese coach José Mourinho, in the El Clásico match five days later.