Saturday, 18 April 2015

Match Preview: Barcelona Vs Valancia; Deportivo Vs Athletico; Real Vs Malaga



Barcelona will be without midfielder Andres Iniesta when they bid to go five points clear at the top of the Primera Division with victory over fourth-placed Valencia on Saturday.

Midfielder Iniesta suffered a bruised pelvis early in the second half of his side's 3-1 Champions League quarter-final first-leg win at Paris St Germain on Wednesday night.

Read more at the jump.....



And despite the excitement generated by his side's scintillating win in the French capital, coach Luis Enrique has insisted his side shut out all thoughts of the upcoming second leg at the Nou Camp next week.

Enrique told a press conference: "We are not thinking about the PSG match, we are only thinking about the visit of Valencia.

"It is important with our current schedule that we keep winning and I would call on our fans to help because we are much stronger when they are behind us and inspiring us at the Nou Camp.

"Mentally we will have no problems because the players know if they are not 100 per cent against Valencia things will get complicated, but physically there are one or two things we have to assess."

Barcelona's six-match domestic winning streak came to an end in a 2-2 draw at Sevilla last week but they can extend their lead at least temporarily as Real do not kick off against Malaga until Saturday evening.

But Valencia will visit the Nou Camp in the midst of a 10-match unbeaten run and coach Nuno Espirito Santo told his club's official website: "We saw the match against PSG - it was a great game with a good result.

"What we have seen confirms what we already thought. They don't have many weaknesses, but they do have some."




Diego Simeone has chosen to rest Mario Mandzukic for Atletico Madrid 's Primera Division match with Deportivo La Coruna.

The Croatian striker suffered a cut on his eye after a clash with Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos during Tuesday's 0-0 Champions League quarter-final first leg draw.

When Simeone revealed his 18-man squad for the match at Estadio Riazor, Mandzukic was not one of the inclusions, meaning Fernando Torres can expect to lead the line in Saturday's contest.

The Argentinian is expected to make other changes for the Depor game, with next week's second leg against Real at the Bernabeu in mind.

Defender Jose Gimenez and midfielder Saul Niguez, both on the bench on Tuesday, could start in place of Miranda and Arda Turan.

With seven Primera Division games remaining, Simeone told reporters: "We are focused on the game and will try to do well.

"This match is key because it is our next one, and we need to continue to compete with Valencia and Sevilla."

Atletico currently occupy the third Champions League place but have only a one-point advantage over Valencia, with Sevilla a further three adrift.

Deportivo are 38 points adrift of their opponents, with a run of nine games without a win leaving them out of the bottom three only on goal difference.

However, boss Victor Sanchez could opt to name an unchanged line-up after the encouraging 2-2 draw at Real Sociedad last time out.


That would mean Oriol Riera leading the line and on-loan PAOK Salonika winger Lucas Perez starting ahead of former Barcelona man Isaac Cuenca.




Carlo Ancelotti has warned his Real Madrid side against complacency as they aim to maintain their pursuit of Primera Division leaders Barcelona when they face Malaga at the Bernabeu on Saturday.

Ancelotti will go into the game without the injured Karim Benzema for the game against their seventh-placed opponents while Gareth Bale has also been struggling with muscle fatigue.

Real start the game two points behind their traditional rivals who face a potentially difficult home game against fourth-placed Valencia, and Ancelotti said: "We know this is a dangerous match.

"Malaga played very well against Atletico, performing with a lot of intensity and quality. They beat Barcelona at home and we need to focus on this match in order to win it."

Ancelotti cut a frustrated figure after watching his side fail to take their chances in their midweek Champions League quarter-final first leg draw against city rivals Atletico.

And despite Benzema's injury adding to Ancelotti's woe, the coach told a press conference he has no hesitation in handing former Malaga playmaker Isco an important role in the Frenchman's absence.

Ancelotti added: "Isco is fresh and ready to go and I know I can use him at any given time. Every match counts now because we are fighting for both competitions, and the players are well aware of this."

Malaga go into the game knowing they can ill afford another defeat after a run of four games without a win which left them five points adrift of sixth-placed Villarreal in the table.


But Javi Garcia's men will have been buoyed by their performance against Atletico last week when they fought out a fine 2-2 draw against the defending champions at La Rosaleda.

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