After two consecutive losses, Barcelona are on the kind of back foot and will try to get their season back on track when they host Real Sociedad at the Nou Camp.
Neymar’s unavailability in the next three matches has made this tie more interesting as the Brazilian will be out of action for a brief period after the Spanish Football Federation banned him for sarcastically applauding the fourth official following his red card in the 2-0 loss against Malaga.
The Catalans have lost back to back matches for the first time in this season. After the defeat to Malaga in the La Liga, an inspired Juventus piled more misery on the Blaugrana as they heaped in three goals past Barcelona custodian Ter Stegen.
Luis Enrique’s men need to get full points from this match to keep their hopes alive in the La Liga. They have won eight matches back to back in the La Liga at the Camp Nou and would be very determined to stamp their authority over Sociedad.
Sociedad, on the other hand, have had a bad patch in the Spanish top tier but has been boosted by their recent 3-1 win over Sporting Gijon. They would be bolstered by the fact that the Catalans doesn’t have a very good record against them and will come into the match with a shaky confidence.
Team News And Predicted Lineups
Barcelona
Luis Enrique is aware that he won’t have the luxury to use Neymar as the Brazilian will be serving his three-match suspension starting from this match. Javier Mascherano is also doubtful after he picked up an injury in the last match.
Added to that, Rafinha Alcantara is also recovering from an injury and will be unavailable for this match. However, Enrique will be boosted by the news that Arda Turan has returned to training and might get a chance to feature in this important match.
Ter Stegen; Roberto, Umtiti, Pique, Alba; Busquets, Iniesta, Rakitic; Messi, L.Suarez, D.Suarez
Real Sociedad
Among the notables, Carlos Martinez and Imanol Agirretxe will be absent.
Rulli; Zaldua, Navas, Martinez, Yuri; Illarramendi, Prieto, Zurutaza; Vela, Jose, Oyarzabal
Key Players
Barcelona
Lionel Messi
Barcelona has been a one man wonder and they would again rely on Lionel Messi to rescue their season once again. Time and time Messi has proved why he is considered as one of the best players in this world. The Argentine international has barely had an off day and the home crowd would expect him to fire all the cylinders once again.
Real Sociedad
Asier Illaramendi
The ex-Real Madrid midfielder will have the task to cut out the threat of the Barcelona attackers.
