Barcelona visits Atletico Madrid on Sunday with an injury and
suspension crisis in defense which will force coach Pep Guardiola
to make major changes to the back four.
Daniel Alves, Eric Abidal and Dmytro Chygrynskiy are all
injured, as is defensive midfielder Yaya Toure, who has
occasionally played in defense as cover. In addition, Rafael
Marquez and Gerard Pique are suspended after being ejected in last
weekend's 2-1 league win against Getafe.
Guardiola only has Carles Puyol, Gabriel Milito and Maxwell
available and he is expected to draft in one or more players from
the reserves.
"Losing players is always difficult because it means we lose
quality and rhythm, but we have a squad that can stand that and can
face up to it," said Maxwell. "We want another win, which would be
very important."
Barcelona is unbeaten in the league after 21 games and with
55 points leads Real Madrid by five.
However, it will be wary of Atletico. Despite having an
erratic and at times disastrous league season, the Madrid team has
enjoyed a fine run in the Copa del Rey. It is also the only team,
apart from Mallorca, that has managed to score twice against the
Catalans in the league - in a 5-2 thriller at the Camp Nou in
September.
"They have great quality in attack, speed and technical
quality," added Maxwell. "It's going to be hard."
Real Madrid faces the less daunting challenge on Saturday of
a visit to Xerez, which is bottom of the league on 11 points and
has won only two games.
However, the Andalusians performed well last weekend and were
unfortunate to lose 3-2 away to Athletic Bilbao.
Madrid has won its last three games, scoring eight and
conceding once. With the team pushing Barcelona in the league and
preparing to face Lyon in the Champions League, attention has
inevitably turned to Madrid's style of play, which has been
pleasing for fans in recent games after being criticized earlier in
the season.
"We've had and we still have moments of more brilliance or
less brilliance, but we now have what we wanted," said Madrid
director general Jorge Valdano. "Finding a style of play is never
easy."
With Cristiano Ronaldo back from a two-game suspension and
Gonzalo Higuain recovered from injury, coach Manuel Pellegrini has
his first-choice strike partnership and can be confident of turning
on the style against Xerez. In recent games, the Chilean has used
Raul Gonzalez and Karim Benzema up front as an alternative - the
France striker is a doubt for Saturday due to a leg injury.
Xerez goalkeeper Renan Brito hinted that it could be an open
game, with his team desperate for an upset as it struggles to
emerge from the relegation zone.
"We have to take risks if we want to win because the nearer
we are to their goal, the more chance we'll have of getting a
result," the Brazilian said.
Also Saturday, it's: Sporting Gijon vs. Valencia and
Villarreal vs. Athletic Bilbao. On Sunday it's: Espanyol vs.
Deportivo La Coruna; Valladolid vs. Zaragoza; Getafe vs. Almeria;
Racing Santander vs. Malaga; Sevilla vs. Osasuna; and Tenerife vs.
Mallorca.
