Barcelona is a heavy guest against Real Mallorca, in the seventh round of the Spanish Football League, at the Iberostar Stadium.
Barcelona enters the match and its goal is to collect the full points, in order to continue the journey and tighten the screws on the leading teams, especially after the big victory over Elche in the last round with three clean goals.
Barcelona occupies second place in the Spanish league standings, with 16 points, collected from 5 victories and a draw, while Real Mallorca enters the match after a 1-0 victory over Almeria, reaching the eighth point in tenth place, after two wins, two draws and two losses.
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez received good news before facing Mallorca. According to the Spanish newspaper Marca, Barcelona’s winger, Osman Dembele, returned to the team’s training, despite not participating in the France-Denmark match.
The French international has been feeling some shoulder pain since the Bayern Munich match in the Champions League, and this prompted him to take the utmost care to avoid aggravating the injury.
After confirming the injury of defenders Ronald Araujo, Jules Conde and Hector Bellerin, Barcelona will play the match, with only three defenders, Gerard Pique, Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen, amid many doubts about the right-back position with Sergi Roberto as the only option.
Barcelona suffered heavy losses during the period of international benefits, as four players were injured during their participation with their national teams. In addition to Uruguayan Araujo and French Conde, Dutchman Memphis Depay suffered an injury to the biceps femoris muscle of the left thigh, and Frenkie de Jong had an elongation in the left semitendinosus, filling Barcelona Hospital, which was almost empty of inmates at the beginning of the season.
Added to them is Hector Bellerin, who suffers from a left calf injury, as well as doubts about the fitness of Sergi Roberto, who missed the last 3 matches before the international break due to some pain.
It seems clear that Gerard Pique, the central defender who has least participated so far this season, will enjoy more minutes in the next stage.
heavy confrontation
Tomorrow, Saturday, the competition will witness a heavy-caliber confrontation when Atletico Madrid, the seventh with 10 points, meets with Seville, the fifteenth with 5 points. The two teams, especially the Argentine Diego Simeone, are trying to win the three points to try to catch up with the teams ahead and improve the ranking of their teams in the table.
The stage competitions open today, when Athletic Bilbao meets Almeria, while tomorrow’s competitions will witness Kadesh’s confrontation with Villarreal, and Getafe against Valladolid.