Barcelona’s top scorer, Rober Lewandowski is expected to lead the line in the club’s La Liga clash against Espanyol on Thursday.
He has missed the last three league matches and was also absent in the 3-2 win over rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final in April due to a muscle injury.
Lewandowski is Barcelona’s top scorer this season with 25 goals in 31 La Liga games, two behind Kylian Mbappe in the LaLiga Golden Boot race.
He was in action for 30 minutes in the Champions League loss to Inter Milan, while missing the 4-3 win over Real Madrid on Sunday.
Hansi Flick confirmed that Lewandoski is now expected to earn his first start since returning from injury while also praising his players for their latest victory over Real Madrid.
Flick said: “Lewandowski is doing good and of course he is ready to play.
“We played 24 minutes with no contact from Real in our half, so it has something to do with the pressing, it has something to do with the right structure we had.
“How we started to press them when they had the ball was unbelievable. When I heard this stat I thought it’s really great… we can be very proud of that. I’m happy for the fans, for the club, because I know that’s very important for them.
The former Bayern Munich manager also defended Ronald Araujo, who was blamed for his role in the two late goals scored by Inter Milan in added time and extra time.
Flick said: “Eric, Christensen, Araujo can play… Andreas is very good, I think he’s doing well. He’s fantastic and gives us a good level. I don’t like what happened with Ronald in Milan, I always protect my players.
“We all make mistakes. We all did in that game. Life is like that. We all make mistakes, but I think it’s also about respect.
“We have to protect him. It’s fine. We talk about these things. All of us who work in this have been in situations like this, you have to handle it well. You have to know how to handle it and you have to protect him.”
Barcelona will be crowned champions with a victory against Espanyol on Thursday.
