Messi injured as Barcelona travel to Malaga

Lionel Messi is a major doubt
for Barcelona’s trip to Malaga on Sunday
after he was again forced off with bruising
on his hamstring during the Catalans’ 1-1
draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
Messi has now played the 90 minutes in just
one of Barcelona and Argentina’s last 27
matches stretching back to when he initially
picked up a hamstring strain against Paris
Saint-Germain in April.
Should the 26-year-old not recover in time
to play on Sunday against a much changed
Malaga side to the one that made the
Champions League quarter-finals last
season, Neymar could be handed his first
start after coming off the bench to salvage a
draw for Gerardo Martino’s men with his
first goal for the club against Atletico in the
Super Cup.
“I hope it will be the first goal of many,” he
told Spanish television station TVE.
“I score very few goals with my head so
they are even more valuable. I am happy to
have got my first goal.
“It is a shame that I haven’t been able to
play with Messi yet, he is the best in the
world and everyone wants to play with
him.”
Whilst Neymar has so far been Barca’s only
new recruit during the transfer window,
there has been a revolving door of comings
and goings at La Rosaleda with new boss
Bernd Schuster welcoming eight new
signings to replace the likes of Isco, Jeremy
Toulalan, Martin Demichelis and Julio
Baptista who left over the past few months.
One of those to make his debut in last
weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Valencia was
Argentine defender Marcos Angeleri and he
is aware of how difficult it will be to stop
Barca, even if they are without his
compatriot Messi.
“Barcelona can surprise you with the
magnitude of their results, but they are
always an opponent that you have to
prepare for in a special way given the
quality of the players they have,” he said.
“They have players that are difficult to
control, but it is not impossible. With the
whole team working well together we can
have a good match.”
Real Madrid have to wait until Monday for
their second outing under Carlo Ancelotti
when they travel to Granada.
Los Blancos were somewhat fortunate to
escape with all three points thanks to Isco’s
late header in a 2-1 win over Real Betis last
weekend and Ancelotti won’t be able to call
on the experience of Xabi Alonso for the
next three months as the Spanish
international broke the fifth metatarsal bone
in his right foot in training on Wednesday.
Granada are one of the few La Liga sides to
have significantly strengthened during the
transfer window and have already shown
they have the capability to beat Madrid
having done so on home soil last season
thanks to an own goal from Cristiano
Ronaldo.
Elsewhere, Real Sociedad look to continue
their fantastic start to the campaign after
2-0 wins over Getafe and Lyon in the past
week when they travel to face Elche, who
make their first home appearance in La Liga
for 25 years.
Sociedad’s Anoeta stadium will still be in use
however as Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao
have been forced to play their first home
game of the campaign there as construction
on their new stadium will not be completed
until September.
Friday
Getafe v Almeria, Athletic Bilbao v Osasuna
Saturday
Elche v Real Sociedad, Espanyol v Valencia,
Villarreal v Valladolid
Sunday Atletico Madrid v Rayo Vallecano,
Levante v Sevilla, Malaga v Barcelona, Real
Betis v Celta Vigo
Monday Granada v Real Madrid