With one eye on Real Madrid-Girona this Saturday, Barcelona faces this Sunday (9:00 p.m. CET) a trap match against Granada, which it has not managed to win in the last four matches, which will be marked by the return under Marc-André ter Stegen’s sticks.
The last game for Barça of the German goalkeeper, who underwent surgery in December to resolve his lower back problems, dates back to November 12. Three months in which his replacement, Iñaki Peña, has conceded 17 goals in 10 League games compared to the 13 that the starting goalkeeper conceded in the first 13 games.
It is true that the Alicante’s opportunity has come at the worst moment of the season, with the team in low times collectively, especially in defense, although he has also appeared in the photo of some goals that Barça has conceded during this stage.
Ter Stegen will return to the dynamics of the first team and will do so, a priori, as a starter on a day in which Barça is awaiting what happens this Saturday at the Santiago Bernabéu, although, in any case, adding the three points against The Andalusian team is almost an obligation, not only to feed the dream of the title, but to scare away the specter of the Europa League positions, now five points away.
In addition to recovering Ter Stegen, Raphael Dias Belloli ‘Raphinha’ will be another new addition to the squad. Oriol Romeu, with discomfort, joins the list of casualties made up of the injured Joao Félix, Pablo Páez Gavira ‘Gavi’, Sergi Roberto, Marcos Alonso, Alejandro Balde and Ferran Torres, in addition to the suspended Vitor Roque.
Not many rotations are expected with respect to the duel against Alavés, after the team has enjoyed a week without games, so everything indicates that Andreas Christensen will repeat in the midfield position alongside Frenkie de Jong, a formula that He gave more solidity to the Barça block in the victory against Alavés (1-3).
For its part, Granada visits Barcelona, in need of points as it has been almost all season, as it begins the day in the penultimate position of the table and eight points away from the permanence zone.
The team led by the Uruguayan Alexander Medina is waiting for a football miracle to achieve salvation that could well begin with a good result against Barça in which few trust.
Granada, which will then play consecutively at home against Almería and Valencia, comes from three consecutive defeats and a draw last day against Las Palmas in a match in which they played for seventy minutes outnumbered.
The rojiblancos cling to their defensive improvement in recent days to have a chance against Barça, although they will have to improve in attack since they have accumulated four consecutive away games without scoring and have only added one point away from Nuevo Los Cármenes throughout the course. .
To make matters worse, Granada appears at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium without Argentine striker Lucas Boyé, who is their starting striker, who has missed the two previous games and who will be out for several more due to a muscle injury.
Medina will have to choose between the Uruguayan Matías Arezo and the Albanian Myrto Uzuni as the offensive reference of a team that arrives with more casualties in Barcelona.
Polish center back Kamil Piatkowski, sent off against Las Palmas, and midfielder Gonzalo Villar, who is playing the game due to an accumulation of yellow cards, are suspended, while goalkeeper Raúl Fernández and defenders Jesús Vallejo and Víctor Díaz remain injured.
New to the starting eleven will be the central defender Ignasi Miquel replacing Piatkowski, while everything indicates that instead of Gonzalo Villar Gerard Gumbau will enter to form a containment trident in the midfield along with Sergio Villar and the Cameroonian Martin Hongla.
The Uruguayan Facundo Pellistri and Óscar Melendo will accompany Arezo or Uzuni up top, while the Polish Kamil Jozwiak, the team’s last winter reinforcement and who is in the squad for the first time, could make his debut as a red and white player coming off the bench.
Granada has lost four games without losing against Barcelona in LaLiga, precedents that make it travel with optimism.
– Probable alignments:
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsí, Cancelo; Christensen, De Jong, Gündogan; Pedri, Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal.
Granada: Battle; Ricard, Bruno Méndez, Ignasi Miquel, Carlos Neva; Hongla, Sergio Ruiz, Gumbau; Melendo, Pellistri and Uzuni.
Referee: Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias (Madrid Committee).
Stadium: Olímpico Lluís Companys.
Schedule: 20:00 GMT
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