Tonight, FC Barcelona will step onto the Giuseppe Meazza to face Inter Milan with the goal of returning to a UEFA Champions League final for the first time in 10 years, following the 3-3 draw in the first leg played a week ago at Montjuic. They will be without Jules Koundé, who was injured in that match… and also without Alejandro Balde. Therefore, Hansi Flick is forced to reshuffle his defensive line to face what is arguably the most important match of the season with the best possible guarantees.

Injuries are no excuse for Flick

Without a doubt, the absence of Alejandro Balde was the biggest omission from the squad list released yesterday by FC Barcelona, which also won’t include the previously mentioned Jules Koundé or Marc Casado. Nor Marc-André ter Stegen, who is not registered for the Champions League. The one who did travel to Milan, though with uncertainty about whether he’ll start, was Robert Lewandowski.

These are extremely significant absences ahead of the match against Inter Milan, especially Jules Koundé and Alejandro Balde, who have been Barcelona’s two starting full-backs throughout the season. However, Hansi Flick expressed confidence in the rest of his defenders to fill in. “Injuries can’t be changed. But there are players who can cover different positions. Koundé and Balde are injured, but whether it’s Eric, Ronald, Héctor, Gerard… they can play in those positions and help us win.”

Flick’s doubts at left-back for Barcelona

In this context, it seems clear that Eric García will be the player chosen by Hansi Flick to take over at right-back in place of Jules Koundé. In fact, he was the one who replaced him in the first match at Montjuic and played only 10 minutes in the last game against Valladolid. However, there are far more doubts about who will take Alejandro Balde’s spot on the left.

In the first leg, Gerard Martín was the one selected by Hansi Flick… but he had to be substituted at halftime because he wasn’t able to contain Denzel Dumfries. Furthermore, his start against Valladolid suggests that Iñigo Martínez could be the one to play left-back for Barcelona against Inter Milan, as he did during the entire second half of the first leg. In that case, we’d have to see who would partner Cubarsí in central defense, since Araújo and Christensen played all 90 minutes against Valladolid.