Whilst on paper, Barcelona's
match against 13th placed Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday seems like a
simple fixture at home, recent history suggests that it could be anything but an easy win.
The
Blaugrana's form of late has been patchy at best, perhaps due to the
absence of Lionel Messi through injury, but the side's weaknesses had
been exposed prior to that.
In late September, upon returning from
the season's first international break, Luis Enrique's men suffered
their first defeat of the season, at home, by losing 2-1 to Alaves.
Their upcoming clash with Deportivo is shaping up as a similar test.
Once
again, player fatigue and injuries will play an integral part into the
outcome of Saturday's match. Against Alaves, Enrique chose to play Aleix
Vidal and Lucas Digne as the wingbacks in order to give first choice
Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba a rest.
He will likely have no
choice this time with Sergi Roberto injuring his abductor in training
with Spain prior to their 2-0 win over Albania.
Meanwhile, Alba
suffered a thigh strain in the first-half of Spain's match against Italy
and will once again be forced to miss the upcoming LaLiga fixture.
It
isn't much better further up the field. Neymar is the only attacker out
of the MSN triumvirate who is seemingly available after returning to
Barcelona earlier than expected due to international suspension. Messi
is a big doubt and unlikely to feature while Luis Suarez won't return
from international duty with Uruguay until late in the week.
source:marca.com
Comments
Post a Comment