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Barcelona's defensive crisis has eased ahead of Saturday's La Liga
visit of Racing Santander as Pep Guardiola welcomes back four key
players.
Barca were down to the bare bones last weekend, with Gerard
Pique, Rafa Marquez, Dani Alves, Eric Abidal, Dmitro Chygrynskiy
and Yaya Toure all out.
And the Catalans paid the price for those absences as they
went down 2-1 at Atletico Madrid in what was their first league
defeat of the campaign.
While injuries to midfielders Xavi and Seydou Keita represent
a blow to Guardiola's plans for the match against Racing, the news
regarding his defence is much brighter.
Pique and Marquez are both available again after suspension,
while Chygrynskiy and Toure have recovered from injury and will be
fit to face the Cantabrian outfit.
The return of those four players gives Guardiola many more
options ahead of Saturday's game.
With Alves still sidelined, the Barca coach is likely to
shift captain Carles Puyol to the right-back position, with Pique
set to return in the centre of defence.
Toure could start in the defensive midfield role, although
Guardiola may prefer to reserve the Ivory Coast man for next week's
Champions League last-16 tie against Stuttgart.
That scenario could see Marquez start in the role he occupied
successfully in the 2004-05 campaign, when Barca claimed the title
for the first time in six years.
But Guardiola admits he is concerned by the club's growing
list of casualties.
"If so many players are injured, something is wrong - there
are several causes, although we don't know exactly what's wrong,"
he said.
Meanwhile, Guardiola reiterated his faith in out-of-favour
forward Thierry Henry, who has not featured in recent matches.
"He is one of the most important players in the squad," he
said.
"Few people have as much faith in Henry as I do, but we have
20-odd players and I choose the team as I best see fit in each
moment," he said.
And he added: "I am still behind Henry, but I cannot be
answering (questions) about the eight players that don't play each
week."
Barca could only draw at home to Racing last season in what
was Guardiola's second game in charge of the first-team.
Saturday's match is already his 100th competitive encounter
as coach of Catalonia's finest.
"When I took over, I never thought about how many games I
would be here, but last year we played all the matches in the
world, so it's normal to arrive so quickly to 100," he said.
"Let's see how many more I get to."
Barca's defeat at Atletico last weekend saw the Catalans'
lead over fierce rivals Real Madrid cut to just two points after 22
rounds of the championship.
Guardiola's side are expected to return to winning ways
against a weakened Racing outfit, but the Barca coach highlighted
the Cantabrians' positive away form.
"Since (Miguel Angel) Portugal took over, they have won three
away games and drawn another - they don't sit back and defend, but
come and attack you," he said.
Racing have indeed improved greatly since Portugal's return
as coach, but the Cantabrians went down 3-0 at home to Malaga last
weekend.
That match was something of a cup hangover, following
Racing's semi-final exit from the Copa del Rey at the hands of
Atletico Madrid just days earlier.
The Cantabrians start the weekend five points clear of the
relegation zone, but will be without three key players at the Nou
Camp.
Pedro Munitis, Gonzalo Colsa and Mohamed Tchite are suspended
after all three players picked up late bookings in the defeat
against Malaga.
Even without those three, though, full-back Christian
Fernandez believes Racing have a chance.
"Barca aren't at their most brilliant at the moment, so we
have a chance," he said.
And the defender believes halting Lionel Messi could be the
key to his side's success.
"He is very unpredictable, with tremendous quality and speed
- you have to be alert all the time to stop him," he said.
"Christian is recovering from a knock and, if fit, is likely
to have the task of marking the Argentina winger.
"I will try to make him uncomfortable," he said.
