Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick revealed the decision involving Robert Lewandowski, following his return from injury, ahead of the Champions League semi-final second leg at Inter Milan.
Flick made it known the Poland captain, who missed the first leg, will start on the bench when the teams square off at San Siro.
“Everything goes in the right way, and he is good, much better than we expected, and he is ready for the bench. So maybe when we need him, he can come in,” Flick said to reporters.
Lewandowski’s return is a huge boost for Flick as the veteran striker has netted 40 goals this season in all competitions for Barca, who need to win at the San Siro to reach the final.
Barca are aiming for a quadruple of major trophies in Flick’s first season as coach, after besting Real Madrid to both the Spanish Super Cup and Copa del Rey.
Flick’s team lead Madrid by four points at the summit of LaLiga with four games left in the Spanish league season.
“I did imagine it [a quadruple bid],” said Dani Olmo.
“I want to win everything. At Barca, we have the team to be at this stage of the season with all of the trophies still to play for… We know what we want to do, and we’re committed to that with the way we play.
“We’ve got energy and motivation, and we’re going to go for it.”
Olmo added that Inter’s plan to double up on Lamine Yamal will not stop Barca’s teenage star from causing the same problems as he did last week.
The 17-year-old ran Inter’s defence ragged at the Olympic Stadium, scoring a wonderful goal and twice striking the woodwork, and Inter coach Simone Inzaghi admitted that he would be subjected to “special attention” from his defenders on Tuesday.
”That just means we’ll have a player free. Lamine has shown that he can play against one, two or three defenders,” added Olmo.
“We’ll help him if that is the case. Our ideas won’t change, if he has two or three markers on him, that means there will be other players free for us.”
Tuesday’s winner will book their place in the Champions League final in Munich later this month against either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain.
