Barcelona returned to training on 13 May 2026 after celebrating the league title and on the same day Hansi Flick named a 23-player squad to travel to Mendizorroza to face Alavés on Wednesday, with Christensen back in the group for the first time since December.
The recall of Christensen was the clearest boost in Flick’s list: the defender had been sidelined since 21 December 2025 with a knee ligament injury and returned to the squad after 143 days out. The timing matters because Barcelona, having clinched the 2025–26 La Liga crown, still have three games left in the season and Flick has made no secret of the club’s target. As he put it plainly: "We want 100 points".
Barcelona sealed the title in dramatic fashion when they beat Real Madrid 2–0 in El Clásico the Sunday before the Alavés match to claim their 29th La Liga championship. That result left them champions but not finished; with three fixtures to play they can still push toward the round number Flick mentioned and a season total that would underline how dominant their 2025–26 campaign has been.
The fixture at Mendizorroza pits the newly crowned champions against a Quique Sánchez Flores Alavés side that remain in the drop zone. The match therefore carries clearly different urgencies: Barcelona can chase a points milestone, while Alavés face a fight to climb out of danger. Alavés will be without Facundo Garcés, who is suspended and will not play again this season, and have only Lucas Boyé confirmed unavailable through injury.
Even as Christensen’s inclusion brightened Barcelona’s defensive options, the squad Flick named was missing key attacking elements. Raphinha is suspended for the match and Lamine Yamal remains injured and unavailable. Those absences strip some speed and creativity from Barcelona’s forward line and complicate Flick’s task if he intends to press for maximum points in the remaining fixtures.
The contrast between Barcelona’s position and Alavés’s is the central tension heading into the tie. Barcelona enter as champions, confident and with a clear headline objective to reach a three-figure points total, yet their route is not untroubled: suspensions and injuries have already removed personnel the manager might have wanted. Alavés, under Sánchez Flores, can treat Mendizorroza as a must-not-lose ground for survival, even with Garcés suspended and only one confirmed injury absentee in Boyé.
Flick’s public insistence on 100 points frames how he will approach these last games. Calling up a 23-player squad on 13 May 2026 that includes a defender just back from a long-term knee ligament injury signals an intent to keep pushing rather than to rotate purely for rest. Whether Christensen’s long layoff leaves him match-ready or whether the team will be hampered by the absences up front are immediate questions that will shape selection and strategy on Wednesday.
For Alavés the match is a final stretch survival test; for Barcelona it is another step on a run the manager has declared will not stop at the title. The single most consequential unanswered question after Flick’s squad announcement is straightforward: can Barcelona still amass 100 points from the final three matches, or will suspensions and injuries blunt their pursuit?
