01/03/2021 14:01
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 01/03/2021 2:01 PM
With the return of Lionel Messi, Barcelona visits Huesca with the obligation to beat the current bottom of La Liga Santander
and try to start a path of regularity so far far away in the Catalan team, which is very far from the top of the championship .
The match, corresponding to date 17, will be played at 17 (Argentine time)
at the El Alcoraz stadium, with arbitration by Guillermo Cuadra Fernández and
live television broadcasting by ESPN (Cablevisión channels 103 and 621 from DirecTV)
.
Absent in the 1-1 draw with Eibar at the Camp Nou, Messi will try to be the leader in play and in spirit in a very irregular Barcelona, which has already left many points along the way and
was not able to string together streaks with more than two consecutive wins at the local level
: 4 to 0 against Villarreal and 3 to 0 against Celta first, and 3 to 0 against Valladolid and 2 to 1 against Real Sociedad.
As indicated by the Catalan club,
the captain was low against the Basques due to discomfort in his right ankle
that was officially reported when Leo was in Rosario, to spend Christmas, and it was speculated that he could extend his stay in Argentina until the year New.
Leo Messi celebrates with Luis Suárez one of his two goals against Huesca, in the only time he faced him in 2018 (AFP)
Finally, Lionel Messi returned to Catalonia on the same day of the match against Eibar, which he saw in civilian clothes in the Camp Nou stalls.
It will be the first game that La Pulga plays under the contractual condition of being able to negotiate with another club to emigrate once the season is over, which has been enabled since January 1, since on June 30 its current relationship with
Barça
ends
.
Messi himself, however, tried to bury possible speculations by having rejected the possibility of using that advantage, but will wait until the end of the current campaign to define his football future.
❝Leo is ready and eager.
It is important for
us❞ - @RonaldKoeman on the return of #Messi
⌛ # HuescaBarça pic.twitter.com/RiDMfKqlYu
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) January 2, 2021
Leo
even
waits for the result of the elections that Barcelona has scheduled for next January 24
, in which the successor of Josep María Bartomeu will be defined, the president who anticipated his departure amid the public dispute and declared that he has with the Argentine.
In terms of football, this Sunday's duel is a priori uneven in favor of
Barça
, which arrives with 25 points against Huesca's 12, although the local can be excited about obtaining a good result given the background of Ronald Koeman's team, which
He could barely get three of the twelve points played against rivals who fight for permanence
: he lost 1 to 0 with Getafe, and drew against Valencia (2 to 2), Alavés (1 to 1) and Eibar (1 to 1).
The Dutchman still does not find the tactical key.
The 4-2-3-1 is no longer indisputable and, in recent days, he alternated it with the classic 4-3-3 and a system of three centrals with two long wingers.
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - La Liga Santander - FC Barcelona v Valencia - Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain - December 19, 2020 Barcelona's Lionel Messi and coach Ronald Koeman REUTERS / Albert Gea / File Photo
For this reason, the tactical disposition with a view to this Sunday is unknown.
The only certainty will be the presence of Leo Messi, who will visit El Alcoraz for the first time
.
After resting due to ankle discomfort against Eibar, the Barça captain will return to the squad to boost a team lacking leaders.
Without Leo in the team against Eibar,
Barça
did not find in Antoine Griezmann an offensive reference and only Ousmane Dembélé, from the bench, claimed himself against Eibar.
In addition, the injury to Philippe Coutinho, who will be out for three months after undergoing surgery for a tear in the meniscus in his left knee, forces Koeman to turn to La Pulga, who can now freely negotiate with other clubs six months after finish your contract.
❗ MEDICAL COMMUNICATIONS # Messi, high, and @samumtiti, low due to gastric ailment, for the # HuescaBarça pic.twitter.com/1WM20uoDgb
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) January 2, 2021
To the absences of Coutinho, Piqué, Ansu Fati and Sergi Roberto is added that of Samuel Umtiti, who missed the last training session due to gastric problems.
Thus, the azulgrana team will visit El Alcoraz with only three centers: Lenglet, Mingueza and Araújo.
In addition, the French defender accumulates four yellows, so if this Sunday he was reprimanded, he would lose the next game against Granada.
Huesca achieved only one win in the season (1-0 against Alavés)
, while it drew more than it lost (6 and 9, respectively).
Although he is last, he stars in a tight fight for permanence, with many teams separated by very few units.
🗒️ CALL
✈️ # HuescaBarça
🔵🔴 # ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/K776PqhkqC
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) January 2, 2021
The team coached by Miguel Angel Sánchez "Míchel" could change its usual tactical drawing and go on to play with five defenders, taking into account that maintaining the fight for possession of the ball against Barcelona seems almost impossible.
Míchel counts for this confrontation with the casualties due to injury of striker Sandro Ramírez and full-back Pablo Maffeo, in addition to Borja García, after testing positive this Saturday for coronavirus.
It will be the fifth meeting between Huesca and Barcelona, and the third for La Liga Santander
.
For the tournament,
the only match that Messi played against the Huesca was an 8-1 on September 2, 2018
, the day that Leo scored two goals.
On April 13, 2019,
Barça
visited El Alcoraz in a game that ended 0-0.
The two remaining duels were for the Copa del Rey, in the fourth round of 2014, with triumphs 4-0 and 8-1 for the Catalans.
Possible formations
Huesca
: Alvaro Fernández;
Pedro López, Jorge Pulido, Dimitrios Siovas, Javi Galán;
Mikel Rico, Pedro Mosquera, Pablo Insua or Jaime Seoane;
David Ferreiro, Shinji Okazaki or Rafa Mir and Javier Ontiveros.
DT
: Miguel Ángel Sánchez.
Barcelona
: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen;
Serginho Dest, Oscar Mingueza, Ronald Araújo, Jordi Alba;
Sergio Busquets, Frenkie De Jong;
Ousmane Dembélé, Lionel Messi, Pedri;
Martin Braithwaite.
DT
: Ronald Koeman.
Time
: 17 (from Argentina).
TV
: ESPN.
Referee
: Guillermo Cuadra Fernández.
Stadium
: El Alcoraz.
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