Tag Archives: La Liga
Barca is facing a personnel crisis for Champions League
Injury and a penalty card could cost Barca up to three key positions after a 1-1 draw at Napoli’s Champions League Stadium on February 25.
Busquets and Arturo Vidal, because of a card, will be absent when Barca reunite with Napoli in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 at the Nou Camp on March 18.
Busquets received a yellow card after 49 minutes for kicking in the ball under Dries Mertens. But this card means that the Barca midfielder has enough penalty cards, and therefore, will have to sit out in the second leg.
Vidal was shown a yellow card for dissent after a dispute with left-back Napoli Manuel Rui on the 89th minute. But due to the reaction, Barca midfielder was penalized by the referee Felix Brych for a second yellow card, indirect red card.
In stoppage time, Gerard Pique got hurt after a block in the penalty area. The Barca center-back grimaced and rolled to the field because of the pain in his left ankle, then replaced with Clement Lenglet shortly thereafter.
Barca is waiting for the evaluation of Pique’s injury department. In the worst case, the center-back may have to miss El Clasico at Real Madrid on March 2, and the second leg against Napoli.
The defending champion La Liga is truly becoming a miniature hospital with a total of 29 injuries and 16 players affected since the start of the season. The three most injured players are Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Ousmane Dembele. Each player has three times. The most serious cases were Neto (broken left arm), Suarez (knee) and Dembele (hamstring). All three players have to go to the operating table and take a long rest.
Barca currently has only 18 players from Team A that are fit to play. When needed, coach Quique Setien was forced to call some more players from the B team such as Ansu Fati, Riqui Puig, or Alex Collado. The Nou Camp host has three rare players who have not yet worked with the doctor, Frenkie De Jong, Antoine Griezmann and Sergio Busquets.
However, Busquets, in all circumstances, Barca will still fight hard for the goal of victory.
Casemiro helped put Real Madrid to the top of the table
Midfielder Casemiro scored both goals when Real beat Sevilla 2-1 in round 20 of La Liga on January 18.
The match between the second and fourth place teams was intense. As the host, but Real only accounts for 54% of possession. Meanwhile, Sevilla has many situations that threaten goal keeper Thibaut Courtois, an unrecognized goal and a 1-1 goal. Real took three points mainly thanks to two flashy moments of Casemiro, who played in a defensive midfielder position.
The midfield set up to help Real win is becoming familiar, especially when the frontline lacks many important players. Due to injuries, Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale have not been able to play yet. Karim Benzema also only came in from the middle of the second half. This is why Zinedine Zidane coach Lucas Vazquez started with Luka Jovic and Rodrygo.
Still, Real is making a difference by individuals who know how to turn the game around. Casemiro did this in the 57th minute with the opener. After receiving Jovic’s heel strike, the Brazilian midfielder went down to the ball to cross the goalkeeper Vaclik.
After the opening goal, Casemiro also played a hero with a goal to set the victory in the 69th minute. Sevilla’s defense was not tight, leaving the Brazilian midfielder comfortably headed in the middle of the box after a cross from the right.
Between the two tables of Casemiro, Sevilla equalized a goal thanks to De Jong. This is also a rare mistake moment of Varane defender – Militao. El Haddadi fell, but promptly pushed the ball to De Jong into the penalty area and shot into the far corner to beat Courtois.
The goal from De Jong’s curling shot was the 13th Real goal in 20 matches from the beginning of the La Liga season. Compared to Atletico Madrid, the team with the best clean sheet, the Bernabeu hosts only one more goal.
After the only mistake, Real crafts were reorganized enough to protect the results. In addition, the midfield also maintained the pressure and adjusted the tempo of the match, contributing to making Casemiro a hero.
Winning an important match, Real climbed to the top with a distance of three points more than Barca. In the late match against Granada, Barca need to win to regain the number one position. In this match, coach Quique Setien will debut the fans after replacing Ernesto Valverde.
