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| Leganes vs Barcelona: Match Preview |
It is win or burst for FC Barcelona when they travel to the City of Madrid to take on newly-promoted side CD Leganes in their fourth game of the 2016/2017 Liga season with the aim of bouncing back from their 2-1 home loss to Alaves last week.
That loss against Alaves meant Barça are now 5th on the log which means Luis Enrique’s men will be heading to the game with the aim of bringing back all three points.
There is no historical ties between both teams which makes the game more interesting as Leganes will be playing against Barça for the first time in their 88-year history. The club did well to hold Atletico Madrid to a 0-0 draw in their second game of the season and that will give them some momentum going into the game.
TEAM NEWS
Luis Enrique named his 18-man squad for the game against Leganes and made some changes to the team that battered Celtic 7-0 in the Champions League, surprisingly leaving out Sergio Busquets and Lucas Digne while Jeremy Mathieu and Denis Suarez returned to the lineup. Aleix Vidal and Jordi Masip are also out of the game as they weren’t included in the squad.
Goalkeeper Marc Andre Ter Stegen is set to return in goal in the league while the likes of Javier Mascherano and Andres Iniesta are set to return to the starting XI. The good news is that none of the 22 players are out injured.
For Leganes, the team who made 18 new signings coming into La Liga, goalkeeper Serantes who was a doubt has been declared for for the game and there will be no major missing for the Madrid side.
LEGANES VS FC BARCELONA
Date: Saturday, 17 September, 2016
Time: 1:00pm CET
Venue: Estadio Municipal Burtaque, Madrid
Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea
LAST MEETINGS
FC Barcelona and Leganes meet for the first time ever.
FORM GUIDE
Leganes: WDL
Barcelona: WWWLW
Predicted Leganes Lineup: Jon Ander Serantes; Victor Diaz, Pablo Insúa, Martin Mantovani, Diego Rico; David Timor, Alberto Martin; Unai López, Omar, Gabriel Appelt; Guerrero.
Predicted Barcelona Lineup: Marc Andre Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba; Ivan Rakitic, Andre Gomes, Andres Iniesta; Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar.
BarcaLens Prediction: It’s an away game and won’t be as easy as people think it will be but Barça will come into the game with full force and get a victory – Leganes 0-4 Barcelona
