Barca look to close gap
> ... before La Liga’s top two face-off on Sunday
BARCELONA TAKE on Las Palmas tomorrow looking to make up ground on Real Madrid and Sevilla at the top of La Liga before those sides face each other on Sunday.
The top two were scheduled to play in Seville today morning in the Copa del Rey and will meet again in the same location, by when the Catalans will hope to have leapfrogged Sevilla and cut Madrid’s lead to two points.
Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 in the Spanish Cup on Wednesday to progress to the quarterfinals but now turn their attention back to the top flight, with the visitors one of La Liga’s surprise teams this season.
Las Palmas are eighth in the table and under Quique Setien have been hugely impressive this season.
They beat Atletico Madrid 3-2 on Tuesday at the Vicente Calderon, although were still eliminated from the Copa del Rey tie 4-3 on aggregate.
The Canarias side are the only team in the league that Lionel Messi has not scored against, with the Argentine forward aiming to set that straight and continue his fine start to 2017.
He scored the goal which sent Barcelona through against Athletic, netting from a freekick for the third consecutive game.
Coach Luis Enrique (pix) said: “Leo Messi was decisive, as usual, and nobody has ever been better than him.
“In all areas, at a dead ball or in play, he reads the game and manages to find the best solution every time. He even makes his teammates better.”
The coach was pleased with his men who put the disappointing first leg defeat by Athletic and last weekend’s draw with Villarreal behind them to vanquish the Basque side.
“The fans responded and supported us when we needed them,” explained the coach.
“We must now put together some victories to regain confidence in our game.”
Enrique is confident that the team is improving as Barcelona head back into La Liga action.
“The image my team have shown in these last three games is improved on 2016,” he said.
“They make me very proud as a manager.”
Sevilla and Real Madrid’s weekend clash at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan will likely be a different affair to their cup meeting because the visitors go into the latter with a 3-0 lead from the first leg of their last 16 tie.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of the Cup game which means he too will be raring to go on Sunday.
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said: “They’re doing really well, they’re doing a great job, they’re a good and strong team with quality players.
“We have two massive games ahead of us. We know it’s a very important week.”
The weekend’s other fixtures are Leganes vs Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid vs Real Betis, Deportivo la Coruna vs Villarreal, Valencia vs Espanyol, Celta Vigo vs Alaves, Granada vs Osasuna, Sporting vs Eibar and Malaga vs Real Sociedad. – dpa