vendredi 19 décembre 2014

Barcelona needs goals to keep pace with Madrid

MADRID (AP) -- With Real Madrid still playing at the Club World Cup in Morocco, Barcelona will have a chance to close the gap on the Spanish leaders on Saturday.

Madrid was due to play Sevilla, but the match will be played at a later
date because the Champions League winners have reached the Club World Cup final.
Barcelona is still at home, and will have a chance to at least temporarily cut its four-point deficit when it hosts Cordoba.
Here are some things to know about this weekend's matches:
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GOAL DISPARITY
Barcelona has built its attack around Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, but Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has singlehandedly outscored the trio 25-24 so far this season.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique needs to find a way to get more goals, and he could try out some ideas on Saturday against Cordoba.
ATHLETIC ATLETICO
Atletico Madrid travels north to Athletic Bilbao with the defending champions looking to rebound after snapping its 27-match home unbeaten streak last week.
Atletico has five wins from its last 10 visits to Bilbao.
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MUNIR'S PATIENCE
With Luis Suarez back and Neymar fit again, 19-year-old Barcelona striker Munir El Haddadi needs to be patient.
El Haddadi scored a goal in his debut with the first team and caught the eye of Spain coach Vicente del Bosque, who selected him for his first senior international outing against Macedonia in a European qualifier.
While Suarez was out, completing a ban imposed during the World Cup, Enrique played El Haddadi in four consecutive matches - three in the Spanish league and one in the Champions League.
Barcelona has since increased his buyout clause to 35 million euros ($43 million), but with Suarez's return, he has only played in three out of 12 matches.
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RISING VILLARREAL
Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia Toral has his eye on overtaking Valencia and challenging Sevilla for fourth-place as his team hosts Deportivo La Coruna.
After securing three points at Atletico, Garcia Toral is looking to keep the momentum going.

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