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| Barcelona |
Barcelona needs to
bounce back from their midweek 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Celta Vigo when
Las Palmas visits the Camp Nou on Saturday.
Barca's 100 percent start to the league campaign was brought
to a spectacular end on Wednesday as high-flying Celta inflicted upon them
their heaviest league defeat since 2008.
Luis Enrique's men slipped down to fifth in the process, yet
they have an immediate opportunity to move back to the top of the table for a
few hours at least on Saturday with Real Madrid, Celta, Villarreal and Atletico
Madrid all in action later in the day.
"Any position that isn't first is not what we
want," Luis Enrique said on Friday.
"In the dressing room we hope that the defeat in Vigo
will serve as a stimulant to get back to winning ways and makes us realise how
hard it is to win in this league."
Worryingly Barca were almost back to full-strength in Vigo,
as Gerard Pique made his first league appearance of the season after serving a
four-match ban.
Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who is set to be sidelined for at
least the rest of the month, remains a real headache however.
With Bravo in goal Barca have conceded just once in three
games this season. Yet, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen as the last line of defence
they have conceded 15 times in six matches, and conceded four three times.
"It is clear that we need to need to improve
defensively, but that doesn't just mean the defence and the goalkeeper, it
means all 11 players on the field must defend better," added the coach.
RONALDO EYES RECORD
Cristiano Ronaldo will aim for Real Madrid's all-time
goalscoring record once more at home to Malaga later on Saturday.
The World Player of the Year has been held scoreless in his
last two outings as he stands just two goals short of Raul Gonzalez Blanco's
323-goal record.
Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez, Danilo and Sergio Ramos will
again be missing for Real, while Pepe is also a doubt.
The game of the weekend sees third take on fourth when
Villarreal host Atletico Madrid.
Atletico boss Diego Simeone rotated his squad for Tuesday's
2-0 win over Eibar ahead of a challenging week that will see Los Rojiblancos
entertain Benfica and Real Madrid after their visit to El Madrigal.
However, Simeone insisted it is the task of inflicting
Villarreal's first defeat of the league season that is most preoccupying him.
"We are not thinking about Real Madrid, only
Villarreal," said the Argentine.
"Villarreal are a hard-working team with a lot of
different qualities and a very defined style. Small details will decide the
game like it did last season."
Simeone is expected to recall Filipe Luis, Jose Maria
Gimenez and Tiago, while Fernando Torres and Jackson Martinez will battle to
partner Antoine Griezmann up front.
Celta will be expected to keep their dream start to the
season going when they travel to Basque minnows Eibar.
Meanwhile, Sevilla and Valencia are in desperate need of a
boost ahead of their return to Champions League action next week when they host
Rayo Vallecano and Granada respectively.
Sevilla sit bottom after taking just two points from their
first five games.
And Valencia coach Nuno Espirito Santo has had to withstand
calls for his resignation after a 1-0 defeat to Espanyol in midweek left them
already six points off the top four.
FIXTURES
Saturday
Barcelona v Las Palmas
Real Madrid v Malaga
Sevilla v Rayo Vallecano
Villarreal v Atletico Madrid
Eibar v Celta Vigo
Sunday
Sporting Gijon v Real Betis
Deportivo la Coruna v Espanyol
Getafe v Levante
Real Sociedad v Athletic Bilbao
Source.supersport.com
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