Barcelona confirm huge injury boost for Borussia Dortmund clash | OneFootball

Hansi Flick will once again be able to call upon the services of his influential playmaker Dani Olmo for Barcelona's Champions League quarter-final tie against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.

Olmo was a casualty of the sharp turnaround Barcelona were forced into by La Liga's fixture compilers after the March international break. Just four days after playing 84 minutes for Spain, the attacking midfielder damaged the adductor in his right leg while lining up against Osasuna.

After a little over two weeks on the sidelines, Olmo was back on the training pitch and has been included in the squad which travels to Dortmund for the decisive second leg of their European tie.

Olmo's return is a significant boost. The former RB Leipzig playmaker brings a direct, penetrative style which isn't boasted by many of his teammates and has an excellent record at Dortmund's intimidating Signal Iduna Park.

Across three previous visits to that particular corner of the Ruhr region, Olmo has scored twice and created another goal.

However, it wasn't all good news for Barcelona. Alejandro Balde pulled up with a hamstring injury during the club's narrow 1-0 victory over Leganes on Saturday night and is expected to be sidelined for around three weeks. This predicted layoff not only rules the left-back out of Tuesday's European clash, but puts his involvement in the Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid in doubt.

Flick may already have one eye on that showpiece fixture at the end of April given the club's comfortable position in this Champions League tie. Goals from Raphinha and Lamine Yamal bookended a Robert Lewandowski brace as Barcelona romped to a thumping 4-0 win against Dortmund last week.

The Spanish word for 'hope' is, somewhat fittingly, 'ilusion'. Niko Kovac didn't let the illusion of hope last for long when he was asked about a potential comeback this week. "Miracles happen all the time," Dortmund's beleaguered head coach began, "but we also know that Barcelona haven't lost a single competitive match this year."