A couple of months ago, when Barça came from adding only two points out of twelve possible against Sevilla, Getafe, Real Madrid and Alavés, Ronald Koeman warned that to connect again to the League his team would need to chain an extensive series of victories followed. But the alarm bell was useless. On the verge of reaching the halfway point of the championship, the Barça team has still not managed to chain three consecutive wins. This Saturday in Granada he will have another opportunity in this hopeful start of 2021 in which he has already won in Huesca (0-1) and Bilbao (2-3) and in which he plays his third trip in a week before facing the Super Cup of Spain. Yes, he has his best streak without losing in this League with seven games, since the defeat in Cádiz (2-1), in which he has reaped five wins and two draws.
In Los Cármenes, Barça already lost last season (2-0), still with Ernesto Valverde on the bench and offering a bad image, without even being able to match the admirable intensity of Diego Martínez’s team. This time he will have to compete with a center of the defense of circumstances for the sanction (accumulation of yellows) of Clément Lenglet, who joins the loss due to injury of Gerard Piqué. Ronald Araujo and Óscar Mingueza, the two recently raised centrals from the subsidiary, are called to train in the axis, because Samuel Umtiti is light years away from a minimally competitive level due to his chronic knee problems, although he has been discharged. The other three injured will not be able to play either: Ansu Fati, Sergi Roberto and Coutinho.
The main question is to know if Griezmann will have continuity in the attack after his sacrificed match in San Mamés, where he recovered more balls than anyone in high pressure, or if Braithwaite, who had taken his place because of that tacphic solidarity, returns to eleven. The ‘euroGranada’, with the loss of Neyder Lozano and some doubts, maintains its high level of last season, fighting to re-enter the Europa League area and resisting with pride despite the accumulation of matches.
Probable lineups:
- Granada
Rui Silva, Foulquier, Duarte, Germán, Neva, Herrera, Gonalons, Puertas, Luis Suárez, Kenedy and Soldado.
- Barcelona:
Ter Stegen, Dest, Araujo, Mingueza, Jordi Alba, Busquets, De Jong, Messi, Pedri, Dembélé and Griezmann.
- Referee:
From Burgos Bengoetxea (Basque).
- Stadium and schedule:
Los Cármenes. 18:30 h. (Movistar LaLiga).
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