Luis Enrique is looking into getting Lionel Messi more involved int the game after the match lost at La Rosaleda, hoping to exploit his influence when facing Granada this weekend.
Even after retaining their unbeaten start against Malaga with a draw 0-0, Barça had a lot of criticism when they struggled to break Malaga’s defense and only had a few opportunities to score.
Defense blocked Lionel Messi and the team was unable to use the Argentina start even after Luis Enrique changes during second half of the match. He told to the press that the lack of participation of Messi was a credit to the Malaga’s work; and also told the press that the more Messi plays, more dangerous is the team in general.
After the draw last Wednesday and the win of Valencia, Barcelona slipped to second in the leader board, but with the same 13 points.
Even after the draw against Malaga, a lot of people have noted the importance to keep a clean sheet, something that didn’t happened since the 1977-78 la Liga season.
Granada will be the next step this Saturday, and they are encouraged after collecting 8 points in the first five matches of this season, but the last 1-0 defeat against Levente is something that coach Joaquin Caparros need to check before the Saturday match.
Granada and Barcelona faced six times since Granada’s promotion from Segunda in 2010-11, and only once Granada beat Barcelona last season with a score of 1-0. When Barcelona played in Camp Nou, the scored 11 goals in the last three visits.
Next saturday we will probably see the debut of Thomas Vermaelen in Nou Camp after injuring his hamstring and most probably Gerard Pique taking position on defense after a season start where he has been bench quite frequently.
On the other hand, Granada’s coach Caparros has almost all his squad ready to play with the only sure loss of Daniel Larsson.
FC Barcelona Soccer News 