Barcelona will try to storm the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, Getafe’s stadium, while clinging to Leo Messi after it emerged following training on Friday that Neymar will be absent for the match on Saturday afternoon.
As Barcelona explained in a medical statement, Neymar is suffering from “some discomfort in his left ankle and will be out as a precaution for the game against Getafe”.
Neymar’s absence leaves the responsibility of the Barcelona attack in the hands of Messi and Luis Suárez, who little by little seems to be adapting to the pace of the competition, although his goalscoring record is still far from what was expected of him.
The full-backs return. As his team prepare to face the Madrid-based side, Luis Enrique will return to select the two most used full-backs this season, Daniel Alves and Jordi Alba. Neither of those two played against PSG in midweek. Next to them, it is likely that Piqué and Mascherano will play in front of Bravo.
The midfield will be comprised of Busquets, Rakitic (another who started as a substitute for the Champions League fixture) and Iniesta.
Barcelona will travel to Getafe with the idea of securing a victory that would allow them to maintain the possibility of ending the calendar year ahead of Real Madrid, albeit virtually, thanks to the fact that they will have played one Liga game more than Carlo Ancelotti’s men.
After losing at home to Celta, Luis Enrique set the challenge of taking maximum points from all of his side's fixtures until Christmas and, at the moment, the team is fulfilling that aim. The test at Getafe, at a ground where Barcelona just do not feel comfortable and where it is difficult to win, is the penultimate step to achieving the objective set by the coach.
Getafe, for their part, know clearly that their main options to combat the ‘Messi effect’ are concentrating on defence, fully exploiting their counter-attacking abilities and utilising set-pieces.
from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://ift.tt/1BusTWu
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