Hansi Flick raves over Barcelona's defence ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt clash

Barcelona have won three matches in a row following a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League near the end of November. With several key players returning from injury, they beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 and edged Real Betis in a high-scoring 5-3 victory to maintain their momentum.

Speaking at a news conference, Flick said the improvement had come despite a difficult spell with injuries. "Everyone knows what happened in the last three months, a lot of injuries, very important players out. In the last weeks we have had to manage the minutes and the load of every player," he said.

Although Barcelona conceded three times against Betis, Flick defended his high defensive line. "The last 10 minutes, they were exhausted," he said. "I said this morning to them, the back line is doing really good. We are getting pressure on the ball, we are connected. This is what we need.

"And the high line, they play it on another level than maybe one month, five weeks ago."

Barcelona also drew 3-3 with Club Brugge earlier in November, but the recent league form left them four points clear at the top of La Liga as attention turned to Frankfurt.

The German side famously knocked Barcelona out of the Europa League in 2022, when thousands of their fans filled the Camp Nou. Barcelona have since restricted ticket access to avoid a repeat. The defeat was considered one of the club's lowest points, but they have risen sharply since then and reached the Champions League semi-finals last season.

Tuesday's match will mark Barcelona's first Champions League game at Camp Nou since October 2022. "For everyone it was a dream to come back and play in Camp Nou," Flick said. "It's also important for the Champions League. It's a really important match for us tomorrow. We have to win, we want to win three points. We want to show our best level."

Flick confirmed that Marc-Andre ter Stegen may return to the squad after injury, but stressed that Joan Garcia "is number one".

Frankfurt arrive after a 6-0 Bundesliga defeat by RB Leipzig and currently sit seventh domestically. They are 28th in the Champions League league-phase table, ten places below Barcelona.

Playmaker Mario Gotze, who previously worked with Flick in the Germany national team, said he admired his former coach's attacking style. "Every match is new and starts from scratch," the 33-year-old said. "You can hardly draw conclusions from the past. It was a unique experience, and we want to live our own experience."