Reeling Real square up to Barca
Real Madrid are on the ropes after a poor start to La Liga and their manager could be fired even before they clash with archrivals Barcelona minus Messi at the weekend
Abroken arm means no Lionel Messi for Barcelona as they host Inter Milan tomorrow night in the Champions League and, more alarmingly for the club, in Saturday’s “Classico” against Real Madrid.
An awkward fall in the La Liga top-of-the-table clash against Sevilla at the weekend means at least three weeks on the sidelines for the talismanic genius. He has fractured the radial bone in his right arm, according to Barcelona.
Tomorrow night’s Group B game at the Nou Camp pits two sides with a 100-percent start to the Champions League campaign. But if the clash produces a winner it will allow Tottenham Hotspur a chance to fight their way back into contention, as long as they beat PSV Eindhoven away in the Netherlands.
This week’s third round of Champions League group games offers defining points for several sides with indifferent form or, in the case of Manchester City, unable to turn domestic hegemony into success on the European stage.
City are away in the Ukraine tonight at Shakhtar Donetsk and in desperate need of a win to put them back on course to win Group F.
City have been rampant in the Premier League in recent weeks, but their home defeat by Olympique Lyonnais at the start of this season’s Champions League campaign was a shock to the system, perpetuating a lack of conviction in the continental competition in recent years.
Real Madrid are in a growing crisis with new coach Julen Lopetegui declared “finished” at the Santiago Bernabeu by the Spanish press.
Lopetegui led Madrid to their fifth game without a win on Saturday as they lost 2-1 to Levante. That was followed by Madridistas (Real Madrid fans and those who play or work for the club) calling for Antonio Conte to be sworn in, although the former Spain boss insisted being sacked was “the last thing on my mind”.
The papers described him as “a failed bet”, one writing “we just need to put a date on his departure. If it’s not today, it’ll be tomorrow, next week or after the Classico”.
In the Champions League, Real have what looks an easy tie against Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic tonight, but many TAB soccer pools fans will be wary of taking the usually reliable Spanish giants as a banker.