The Euro Preview: Will injuries dent Barcelona and Bayern Munich’s title hopes?
It’s going to be a weekend of quick turnarounds as teams such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich try to get over injuries to key players and midweek league action.
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La Liga
Real Madrid should hold an edge over Barcelona going into this weekend. Although Barcelona have more points (15 to Real’s eight), the Catalans have to deal with the absence of Ousmane Dembele, who suffered a ruptured tendon in his thigh last Saturday during a 2-1 win at Getafe. Barcelona spent $183 million on the former Borussia Dortmund striker after losing Neymar to PSG this past summer and will have to do without him for at least the next four months. Despite Barca’s troubles, Real Madrid have been unable to take advantage of their rivals’ misfortunes.
The Dembele injury could spell potential disaster for Barcelona (despite their five-point cushion over Sevilla at the top of the standings) as they prepare to play Girona this Saturday in matchday 6. The 20-year-old Frenchman had played in just four games this season, scoring no goals. As a result, the onus will be on Lionel Messi to carry the offensive burden, something the Argentine can handle given his blistering scoring pace so far this season. Messi’s four goals in Barca’s 6-1 rout of Eibar on Tuesday means the playmaker has scored more than half of his club’s 17 goals so far this season. In addition, Messi has scored an average of 1.8 goals per game, nearly a third more than when he recorded a career-high 50 goals during the 2011-12 campaign. Messi is likely to build on his goals tally when Barca plays on the road against Girona, who are in 15th place on five points.
While Real Madrid haven’t been immune to absences to their starting lineup, the return of Cristiano Ronaldo from suspension should bode well for the reigning Liga champions, even if they did lose 1-0 against Real Betis on Wednesday in one of the season’s most-shocking results so far. While Real have some ground to cover, but don’t be surprised if they once again challenge Barcelona and make it a two-team race for the top. But Zinedine Zidane’s side need Ronaldo to get back into the scoring groove he’s known for. Real play on the road Saturday against Alaves (yet to record a win and in last place with no points) in a game they should win. It’s also a match where Ronaldo will look to score for the first time in a Liga game this season.
Bundesliga
Like Barcelona, Bayern Munich have to deal with an injury to one of their key players. Team captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer injured himself this past Monday in training. The club announced via Twitter that the World Cup champion had injured his left foot. The German newspaper Bild later provided more details about the injury and a scan revealed the worst.
Neuer’s foot injury is a recurrence of the hairline fracture to a metatarsal in the same foot that he picked up during the Champions League quarterfinal second-leg defeat to Real Madrid last April. The 31-year-old goalkeeper underwent successful surgery Tuesday and will be sidelined, like Dembele, for four months. The injury to Neuer is on top of the internal strife Bayern have endured in recent weeks, putting the club under the media spotlight and creating an unwanted distraction for coach Carlo Ancellotti.
This means Bayern will be without its star keeper when they host Wolfsburg on Friday, a match that could prove tricky for the Bundesliga champions, who are currently in second just a point behind Borussia Dortmund. Neuer’s understudy Sven Ulreich, a 29-year-old former Stuttgart goalie, will fill the role between the pipes as Bayern hope their defense can prevent any further losses this season. A misstep by Bayern could mean that title contender Dortmund could make a play to extend their lead. Led by American superstar Christian Pulisic, Dortmund defeated Hamburger SV on Wednesday, 3-0. Pulisic, who scored a goal in that game, will be prepared to bag some more on Saturday as his side host Monchengladbach.
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Serie A
The biggest development in Italy isn’t any injury to a superstar player, but the crazy amount of goals that have been scored since the start of the season. The league that once gave us strong defending and that dreaded catenaccio has given way to goals, goals and more goals. The highlight of matchday 6 will be the Turin derby on Saturday between league leaders Juventus and Torino at the Allianz Stadium.
Juventus have had a great run of form thanks to the scoring heroics of Paulo Dybala. TThe Argentine has been drawing comparisons to his countryman Lionel Messi after almost single-handedly guiding the Old Lady to perfect start to the league season. Although Dybala didn’t score in Juve’s 1-0 win against Fiorentina on Wednesday (the first time that’s happened this season), he leads the team in scoring with eight goals.
The other league leaders are Napoli, a team having a formidable season and playing the best soccer in Europe thanks to Belgian international Dries Mertens and an overall strong team effort. The Partenopei often resemble Barcelona the way they play. Napoli’s passing is fluid, the attacking buildup usually starts deep in their own half and wingers Lorenzo Insignie and Jose Callejon make it all look too easy with their delicious crosses and 30-yard volleys. Napoli’s 4-1 drubbing of Lazio in Rome on Wednesday (a game they trailed 1-0) was yet another demonstration of how strong the team have been domestically this season. Napoli visit newly-promoted Spal in Ferrara on Saturday, another game they are expected to win.
In two other games to keep an eye on this Sunday, watch for the Milan-Genoa series. Second-place Inter Milan host Genoa, while AC Milan travel to Genoa to take on Sampdoria.