Three key battles that could decide Barcelona vs Borussia Dortmund | OneFootball

“Dreaming is allowed,” said Hansi Flick about Barcelona’s chances of achieving the treble following his team’s hard-fought away win against Atletico Madrid in the semi-final of the Copa del Rey.

With a tantalizing cup final set up against Real Madrid on April 26th and Barcelona leading the La Liga title race with a four-point lead over the same rivals in white, the talk of the treble comes down to Europe’s premier competition and one that has eluded the club for years, the UEFA Champions League.

After a mightily impressive performance in the revamped group stage of the Champions League and then beating Benfica comprehensively in the Round of 16, Barcelona once again revisit a league match-up, this time against Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals.

Make no mistake about it, it feels like this young, revolutionary team are on the cusp of something special, something magical. The omen could be backed by their ruthless patch of form too.

Unbeaten in 2025, the team looks in good shape too heading into tonight’s clash with the Black and Yellow.

While the club’s unforgiving schedule prior to this monumental game showed some signs of slowing down the players against Real Betis on Saturday, Barcelona are still favourites to progress to the semi-final and continue their bid for an unprecedented third treble.

Now while the victors have only fared better than the last time these two teams met in December, Dortmund have regressed in the four months since, having sacked a legend as their coach in Nuri Sahin and replaced him with Niko Kovac.

While this managerial switch hasn’t improved their domestic form, Kovac successfully navigated Dortmund through a tricky Champions League knockout playoff for the Round of 16 stage against Lille.

They may not be consistently good as a team, but Dortmund have reliable assets to bank on that could pose a question or two to Barça. It makes for some interesting key battles across the pitch whose individual results could play a massive role in deciding the fate of the tie.

Raphinha vs Julian Ryerson

Raphinha was on target against Dortmund last time out. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

The competition’s top-scorer Raphinha is leading Barcelona’s charge in Europe.

With 11 goals and five assists in 10 games this season and a special preference for German clubs – a hat-trick over Bayern Munich and a key goal against Dortmund – he has been the go-to-man for the Blaugrana this campaign.

But as we all know, this rise in prominence for Raphinha has been down to a position switch from the right to the left wing. While it has paid incredible dividends, it also means Raphinha will be coming up against a rapid, two-footed, supremely agile right-back in Julian Ryerson.

The Norwegian is one of the cornerstones of this Dortmund team whose emergence last year was a major reason behind them making it to the final in Wembley. His lung-bursting forays in attack and solidity in 1v1 situations make him a worthy opponent of Raphinha’s tenacity.

Now some might say Raphinha did score the last time out from the same side of the pitch. But he did so at the hour mark after Ryerson had left the field with an injury at half-time.

There isn’t doubt about Raphinha’s obvious quality, but the Ryerson test is as tough as they come for the Ballon d’Or contender and best believe, Barcelona will need him to be at his peak.

Alejandro Balde vs Karim Adyemi

Karim Adyemi was linked intensely to Barcelona a few years ago before he decided to pursue his still nascent career at Borussia Dortmund. It is a decision whose judgement could still be filed under ‘the jury’s out’ but what is certain is that the German is going to be a key player in this tie.

Despite a ‘stop-start’ theme to his time at the club so far, Adeyemi may not be ruthlessly efficient, but he is ruthlessly intense. His stride is very difficult to pick up mid-stream and his footwork is commendable, especially at the pace with which he runs with the ball.

But that isn’t the only aspect of his game that makes him such a threat. It is his work-rate. Adeyemi in light of all of his young years, has days of horsepower in his engine room and shows a certain level of commitment and maturity with his defensive work.

Adeyemi will pose a threat. (Photo by Selim Sudheimer/Getty Images)

Under Niko Kovac, Adeyemi has played on the right wing when the manager has opted for a 4-2-3-1 setup and that only means one thing – Alejandro Balde is going to have a busy night.

Balde just like Raphinha will face one of his toughest tests of the season when he comes up against the raw pace and power of Adeyemi.

But it wouldn’t be prudent to place Balde as second-best in the battle so early, especially given how well he has performed this season and improved drastically as a left-back.

Under Flick, the La Masia gem is tasked with what he does best – carry the ball upfield. You would be hard-pressed to find a full-back who is better than him at breaking lines and progressing play through his ball-carrying.

A whole lot of credit must also fall on his shoulders for gaining more prominence in the final third with his final product, all while learning to move a whole lot better and instinctively to get into threatening positions.

If Adeyemi could give Balde a run for his money, then the La Masia graduate is an equally potent threat going forward, giving his counterpart plenty of instances to track back and keep him away from the goal.

With Balde and Adeyemi matching stride for stride and Raphinha and Ryerson going pound for pound, this flank is a battleground for a blockbuster match-up that could very well swing the momentum towards either side.

Pau Cubarsi vs Serhou Guirassy

There was a very distinct moment when these two teams met in the group stage at Signal Iduna Park. Serhou Guirassy received the ball out on the left, behind Jules Kounde and Pau Cubarsi shuffled across to shut him down.

Guirassy, a taller and mightily physical striker, thought he could shrug off the challenge of young Cubarsi and put him in his place.

Little did he know the latest La Masia prodigy is one of the best young defenders in the world and if there is one thing he cannot do, is shy away from a physical tussle.

Cubarsi will battle Guirassy again. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

What naturally followed was that the youngster wrestled the ball back from Guirassy, left him in his wake and launched another spell of attack for Barcelona.

This is 18-year-old Cubarsi in a nutshell, who is having a fantastic season at the heart of a highly risky defensive system. Alongside a veteran gladiator in Inigo Martinez, he has already come up trumps against the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Julian Alvarez and even his next opponent Guirassy.

But, Cubarsi might have to put in a serious shift once again as Guirassy remains one of the most in-form strikers in Europe this season. With 10 goals in the Champions League, he is only second to Raphinha in the scoring charts.

He has also already demonstrated his troublesome movement and devastating finishing against Barcelona when he scored twice during their 3-2 home loss in December.

Not only is he sharp with his darting runs, but he is incredible in his associative play thanks to his immense physical attributes that come in handy with his back towards the goal.

To put it a bit more simply, Cubarsi will need to keep Guirassy quiet if Barcelona are to beat Dortmund with conviction.

The teenager might have help from Ronald Araujo or Martinez depending on Flick’s chosen partner for him, but knowing Guirassy, he will have that tussle fresh in his mind. And he will want to have a second go at it.