All eyes are on Hansi Flick’s next move as Robert Lewandowski is ready to make his imprint in La Liga once more. Will the Polish sensation return to the starting lineup, or will Ferran Torres continue his stellar run?  After missing three crucial league games, when Kylian Mbappé jumped ahead of him in the battle for the top scorer award, Lewandowski is eager to return to the field.

The pressure is on, as Mbappé leads the scoring charts with 27 goals, two more than Lewandowski, following a spectacular hat-trick against Barcelona.  Lewandowski has plenty of time to win his second top scorer award in just his third season with the Blaugrana, though.

Lewandowski is concerned about more than simply the numbers, though.  Reaching his 100th goal for Barcelona will be a significant milestone.  He missed games against Mallorca, Valladolid, and the Copa del Rey final recently because of a muscular injury he suffered in the closing minutes against Celta Vigo.  He made a brief comeback in the Champions League match in Milan, entering the game in stoppage time and fighting into extra time, but he was conspicuously missing from the most recent Clásico match.

It’s possible that Flick purposefully rested Lewandowski against Real Madrid in order to make sure he would be fully recovered for the pivotal Espayol derby at the RCDE Stadium.  Alternatively, it can indicate that Flick is being cautious since he is unsure if Lewandowski has fully recovered from the damage to his left semitendinosus muscle.

 The stakes are high for Flick’s choice since, should Real Madrid lose to Mallorca at the Bernabéu on Wednesday, a win in Thursday’s derby may guarantee the La Liga championship.

Ferran Torres, meantime, has been presenting a strong argument for himself.  Flick has a difficult time choosing Barcelona’s top striker for the 9:30 p.m. kickoff after three assists in the most recent Clásico, a goal in the La Cartuja final, and a run of strong performances.

This next derby will be Lewandowski’s second time at Cornellà-El Prat and his fourth time with Barcelona.  After his interim ban was overturned following a contentious red card incident, which included a memorable hand-to-nose gesture in a previous match against Osasuna, he made his debut in this encounter at Camp Nou.  Interestingly, Lewandowski scored twice in the rematch at Espanyol’s stadium, a 4-2 victory that was crucial in winning the league title over their city rivals. He is surely hoping to duplicate that performance.

 In the most recent derby match of the season, which was contested at Montjuïc, Lewandowski played the entire ninety minutes but, regrettably, failed to score.