Barça wants to turn the page in Almería
The Catalans, eliminated in Europe, hold on to LaLiga and seek to consolidate their leadership against a rival in trouble
MADRID, 25 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona seeks to forget this Sunday at the Power Horse Stadium (6:30 p.m./Movistar LaLiga) its new European hit and focus on consolidating its leadership in LaLiga Santander just before the first Copa del Rey Clásico, all in a match in which the Almería hopes to break their losing streak of results against a rival they have never managed to surprise.
The 2-1 draw at Old Trafford, after the 2-2 draw in the first leg in Barcelona and which was the first defeat after 18 games, delved a little more into the brittle morale of the Catalans, who, with this new ‘KO ‘ in the ‘Playoff’ of the Europa League, add their fourth European elimination in less than a year and a half.
With no continental competition in sight, the culés now only have to think about the domestic championship, before focusing their eyes on the cup-bearer duel in the semifinals against Real Madrid. “This continues, but we have other goals. The biggest disappointment this season was the loss in the ‘Champions’. This hurts, but we have LaLiga and the Cup, which is essential for us. It sucks to lose, but we have to get up”, warned Xavi at a press conference.
The fragility of the Catalans in the Old Continent -where they had also conceded, in the ‘Champions’, their previous defeat among all competitions, against Bayern Munich on October 26- contrasts with the solvency shown in LaLiga, where they command the table with 59 points, eight more than Real Madrid, which this Saturday faces Atlético in the Madrid derby.
They are also the team that concedes the fewest goals (7) and the second that scores the most (45), just a bit behind the whites (46), and now they will seek their eighth consecutive win in a duel in which they will not be able to have Ousmane Dembélé, Pedri or Ansu Fati, who will be able to be in the Classic on Thursday.
In exchange, Xavi will have Ronald Araujo available, replaced as a precaution against Manchester United. Predictably, the Catalan coach will offer minutes to substitutes for the continental match such as Marcos Alonso, Jordi Alba, Eric García or Ferran Torres, in a clash for which Gavi will return, who missed the Old Trafford appointment due to suspension.
Opposite, Almería needs to end a streak of three consecutive defeats that have brought them dangerously close to the bottom of the table. Rubi’s men (22) started the day with the same points that marked the relegation places, and they could dismiss the day in them if they are not able to score this Sunday.
The defeat suffered last week in Girona (6-2), after also losing to Rayo in Vallecas (2-0) and to Real Betis (2-3), has touched a team desperately seeking salvation in his return to Primera and that he has only won one game after the World Cup in Qatar.
The coach from Almería plans a change of system with a defense of five to try to stop the bad dynamics. To do this, he will recover Alejandro Pozo, who has overcome the discomfort that prevented him from being in Montilivi, while Gonzalo Melero is a doubt due to his knee problems.
The culé team has won the last nine games against the Indálicos, who have never surpassed the Catalan team. In the first round match, goals from Dembélé and Frenkie de Jong gave victory to Xavi Hernández’s men, despite a penalty missed by Robert Lewandowski in the first half (2-0).
DATASHEET.
–POSSIBLE ALIGNMENTS:
ALMERÍA: Fernando; Pozo, Chumi, Ely, Babic, Akieme; De la Hoz, Samú, Roberton; Luis Suárez and Ramazani.
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Koundé, Eric García, Alonso, Alba; Busquets, Kessie, Gavi; Ferran Torres, Sergi Roberto and Lewandowski.
–REFEREE: Ortiz Arias (C.Madrileño).
–ESTADIO: Power Horse Stadium.
–TIME: 6:30 p.m./Movistar LaLiga.