Barca defying expectations with treble fight - Flick

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said Saturday that at the start of his reign nobody expected the Catalan giants would be fighting for three trophies in March.

The German coach replaced Xavi Hernandez last summer after a disappointing campaign where Barcelona finished without silverware.

Flick's side lead La Liga on goal difference ahead of champions Real Madrid, are in the Copa del Rey semi-finals against Atletico and will face Benfica in the Champions League last 16.

It leaves Barca with a packed schedule in the weeks ahead, starting with the visit of Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday, but Flick said he had no complaints.

"The team is doing really great, they are focused, no excuses, just focus on the next match," said the coach.

"It's not easy to manage everything, we have to accept it... we'll give everything.

"We have three competitions, we will fight for three trophies and when we started the season, nobody expected it would be like that on the first of March, but the team is doing great."

Flick said he would shuffle his pack against La Real ahead of the visit to Lisbon on Wednesday in the Champions League.

"We need fresh legs and tomorrow is also a good day to (do) this and we will have changes, but I will not say which changes we do," said the coach.

Flick said Danish defender Andreas Christensen had suffered a new injury setback.

The 28-year-old last played for the club in August before an Achilles injury ruled him out for several months.

After returning he suffered a calf injury and although he was set to return to the squad against Real Sociedad, Flick said that was no longer possible.

"We have Andreas and what I can say now is he got injured in this training session, so he was an option for tomorrow, but again he was injured," said Flick.

"We are looking now how heavy is the injury, hopefully it's not so (bad)."

BARCA WILL ROTATE SQUAD

Barcelona will rotate their squad for the LaLiga home game against Real Sociedad on Sunday, manager Hansi Flick said amid concerns about the packed calendar as his side strive for titles in three competitions.

Barcelona are on a 14-match unbeaten streak across LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League and are in the running for titles in all three tournaments.

"It's not easy to manage and adjust. We'll do what we can. Having fresh players is what we'll do," Flick, whose side have four matches over the next 10 days, told reporters on Saturday.

"We have three competitions and we're fighting for three titles. When we started, nobody expected to be like this on March 1.

"There are a lot of things going on this season and I've changed the training sessions," Flick said.

"In other games, like the (Copa del Rey) one against Valencia, we hardly rested and the team did great. We have to be focused on the game. There are no excuses... the calendar doesn't give us many more options. It's something that has an impact."

Despite conceding 25 goals this season, including four in their 4-4 draw with Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final on Tuesday, Flick remains unfazed.

"I'm not worried about when we concede... we start from scratch. What we have to do is take the energy and decide how to play," the 60-year-old said.

"We already saw the two goals against Atletico but then we played a good game. We invested a lot of energy at the end of the game too. We have to do things better as a team, we know that."

Barcelona will be without defender Andreas Christensen on Sunday as the Dane has been injured again.

Christensen, 28, missed the start of the season due to an Achilles tendon problem and then injured his right calf in training in January.

"Andreas has been injured and we have to wait and see how serious it is. Let's hope it's not, he has retired early. We have very good defenders.

"Ronald (Araujo) came in after an injury and is doing very well. He has everything to reach very high levels."

Barcelona top the LaLiga table with 54 points, the same number as second-placed Real Madrid, while Sociedad are ninth with 34 points.