Hansi Flick’s rotation dilemma ahead of Barcelona vs Alaves | OneFootball

So far this season, FC Barcelona has been flying under the leadership of Hansi Flick. While they have not been able to maintain their perfect streak, their overall record speaks for itself. Both in La Liga and the Champions League, Barcelona are beginning to gain momentum.

However, both of the stated competitions have also left the Catalan club with some hurt at some point. In La Liga, that suffering came against CA Osasuna at El Sadar as a heavily rotated Barcelona side crumbled 4-2 to the home side and lost their first and only game in the Spanish First Division so far this season.

Against Monaco in the Champions League, they suffered their second heartbreak so far this season. Within the first 15 minutes or so, Eric Garcia ended up getting red-carded and leaving Barcelona at a disadvantage for the entirety of the game with little to no hope despite Lamine Yamal’s best efforts.

In both of these cases, however, there has been a constant. Even as SPORT points out, the rotations that Flick has tried from time to time have not always worked out in his favor. For most games, performances may have dwindled but at least results were managed. However, the others have ended up in disadvantageous results as well, namely the games against Monaco and Osasuna.

With such mixed results so far when it comes to rotations, especially the kind of rotation that Flick tried against Osasuna, it would appear that perhaps the Barcelona coach may have learned his lesson. Interestingly, however, this upcoming game away to Deportivo Alaves could be a very telling occasion.

Not simply because Hansi Flick’s line-up will show if he does or does not rely on rotations for the game, but also because of Alaves’s similarities to Osasuna. Both teams have a similar pressing style and that could be a test for the Barcelona coach in terms of how he deals with it this time around to show his learning from the previous loss.

As of right now, apart from the decision to start Ferran Torres or Pablo Torre, Hansi Flick has an established strongest eleven of the players that he has available. Inaki Pena in goal, Jules Kounde, Pau Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, Alejandro Balde in the back-line, with Pedri, Marc Casado, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, and Robert Lewandowski covering the other positions. Against Alaves, however, it will be interesting to see who gets to stay as a starter.

With this being the last game before the international break, it would also be fascinating to see if Flick considers resting any of his starters. The football calendar is still young and a lot of distance is still left to be covered, so the Barcelona coach’s final decision could take a lot of things into consideration.