A knocked-out Barça seeks to recover from the tragic week
Xavi’s men visit a Real undefeated in the last five days
BARCELONA, 20 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona visits the Reale Arena this Thursday (9:30 p.m./Movistar LaLiga) knocked out after the tragic week at the Camp Nou, which leaves them with a blank season and immersed in the fight for second position, so Real Sociedad will try to take advantage and reach the coveted place that gives access to the Champions League.
Xavi Hernández’s team said goodbye last Monday to their options to fight for the League title against Real Madrid, after falling at the Camp Nou (0-1) against Cádiz and enlarging their bad drink after the sporting and institutional fiasco in Europa League against Eintracht.
The azulgranas want to put an end to the negative dynamics that they drag at the crucial moment of the season. And for this they will fight to certify the second position, the “real” objective, according to Xavi, although it is not for “the history of FC Barcelona”.
Right now, they are second with one game in hand and in the running for European positions with Sevilla and Atlético de Madrid, with the same points (60), and followed by Real Betis with three fewer and Real Sociedad, with five below.
In this way, the team from San Sebastian wants to delve into the Barcelona wound and continue in the fight for the ‘Champions’ positions. Unlike the Catalans, they arrive undefeated in the last five games and hope to make room for the final blow after the goalless draw against Betis on the last day.
“I said that everything is going to be decided on the last day and we are going to see what we play for. We are very excited, hopefully we can offer the best version to be able to win the game and be close to the greats with five games to go”, he explained. Imanol Alguacil on the aspirations of the ‘txuri-urdin’ team.
Real Sociedad has only conceded one goal in the last month, so the Barça team will have an added difficulty in knocking down the Basque wall and recovering their goalscoring instinct.
Xavi Hernández’s men will not have one of their main strongholds, the Canarian Pedro González ‘Pedri’, who suffered a fibrillar rupture in the biceps femoris in the duel against Eintracht and who will likely miss the entire season. Thus, he will join the casualties of the injured Sergio Roberto, Samuel Umtiti, and Ansu Fati.
The good news for Barça is the return of Gerard Piqué, who has entered the list after receiving a medical discharge this Wednesday. In this way, they recover an essential cash that has missed the last two days due to injury.
Opposite, Real Sociedad attends the meeting with an urgency after the expulsion of David Silva last Friday against Betis. “Nais, or Ander (Guevara), or Portu can also enter, you’ll see. What I’ve been repeating, and it’s the best news, is that I have all the players ‘plugged in’ and ready”, said the Gipuzkoan coach about the equipment status.
The team from San Sebastian has yet to beat any of the teams that occupy the top four positions this season, with three draws and three defeats, suffering one of the three against FC Barcelona in the first leg (4-2).
DATASHEET.
–POSSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
REAL SOCIEDAD: Remiro; Zaldua, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Rico; Januzaj, Zubimendi, Rafael, Merino; Isaac and Sorloth.
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Dest, Araujo, Pique, Alba; F. de Jong, Busquets, Gavi; Dembele, Aubameyang and Ferran.
–REFEREE: Carlos del Cerro Grande (C. Madrileño).
–STADIUM: Reale Arena.
–TIME: 9:30 p.m./Movistar LaLiga.