European champions Barcelona will have to do without the injured Neymar for their final La Liga game before Christmas at home to RC Deportivo de La Coruna before jetting off to the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.
The Brazilian star’s absence due to a groin problem is a huge miss as he has been Barca’s player of the season given Lionel Messi’s recent two-month layoff due to a knee-ligament injury, scoring 14 goals in just 13 league appearances.
Messi also missed training on Thursday for personal reasons and was seen heavily stretching his hamstring toward the end of a depleted Barca side’s 1-1 draw against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Wednesday, but is expected to be fit to start.
Photo: AFP
Luis Suarez was left on the bench for the trip to Germany as the holders had already qualified for the round-of-16 of the UEFA Champions League and will return seeking to score for the ninth consecutive game.
Barca were left to rue a host of missed chances last weekend as they conceded late to draw 1-1 at Valencia and allow Atletico Madrid to cut the gap at the top to two points, with Real Madrid two points further adrift, and they face another stiff test at the Camp Nou against a revitalized Deportivo side that are enjoying a return to their glory days after a number of seasons bouncing between the top flight and the second division.
Lucas Perez’s 10 goals have propelled the Galicians up to sixth in the table and he is happy for Barca to be distracted by their upcoming trip to Japan.
“It seems like Barca will be without Neymar, which benefits us. If Messi, Suarez and [Andres] Iniesta also want to stay at home and save themselves for the Club World Cup, we’d accept it,” Perez said.
In contrast to Barca’s injury problems, Real Madrid coach Rafael Benitez finally has a fully-fit squad to choose from as he is expected to welcome back Sergio Ramos and Marcelo for tomorrow’s demanding trip to fifth-placed Villarreal.
Madrid’s problems off the field have continued this week, but on it they are in fine form, having smashed Malmo FF 8-0 to equal the biggest-ever margin of victory in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring four and Karim Benzema hitting his first hat-trick in five years.
Barca’s brilliance and the madness at Real Madrid in recent weeks has taken the attention away from Atletico Madrid.
However, Diego Simeone’s men can be top of the league at Christmas should they win their next two La Liga games due to Barca’s Club World Cup commitments next weekend.
Atletico face a tough test themselves at home to Athletic Bilbao tomorrow, though, as Europe’s best defense faces up to the triple threat of Aritz Aduriz, Inaki Williams and Atletico old boy Raul Garcia.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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