La Liga PREVIEW
Madrid, Sep 11: Barcelona approaches its first home game in La Liga missing a few injured players – and a proper stadium.
Among a few off-field problems for unbeaten Barcelona, the biggest is its inability to get the newly renovated Camp Nou stadium reopened.
The permits to return to the Camp Nou have not been approved, so the Catalan club will play its first Spanish league home game at a 6,000-seat venue, about 99,000 less than the refurbished Camp Now offers.
On Sunday when it meets Valencia, Barcelona will use Estadi Johan Cruyff, which typically hosts the Barcelona women’s team and the men’s reserve and youth squads.
Coach Hansi Flick also won’t be able to count on players nursing injuries such as Frenkie de Jong, Alejandro Balde and Gavi. De Jong’s setback came while playing with the Netherlands during the international break.
Key matchups
Real Madrid, winner of its first three matches, on Saturday visits a Real Sociedad squad that is winless.
The Basque Country club opened with consecutive draws against Valencia and Espanyol and lost at promoted Oviedo. Madrid routed Oviedo on the road and picked up victories against Osasuna and Mallorca.
Athletic Bilbao, the only other team to open the season with three straight victories, hosts Alaves on Saturday. Athletic has beaten Real Betis, Sevilla and Rayo Vallecano.
Atletico Madrid, off to an unusually slow start after draws against Alaves and Elche and a loss to Espanyol, will try and earn its first victory when it hosts third-placed Villarreal on Saturday.
Players to watch
Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé was last season’s top league scorer and already leads again this season with three from three matches. Two others have three; Getafe’s Adrián Liso and Villarreal’s Tajon Buchanan.
Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior are right behind with two each.
Real Betis is expected to debut newly signed Brazil forward Antony.
Out of action
In addition to De Jong, Balde and Gavi, Barcelona also remains without goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen.
New Madrid coach Xabi Alonso still can’t count on Jude Bellingham, while Athletic will likely be without its star forward, Nico Williams, because of an injury while with Spain.
Off the field
Barcelona said there was still no timetable on when it could get the permits for Camp Nou. The club played the last two seasons at the city’s publicly owned Olympic Stadium.
“We will be back to the Camp Nou as soon as possible,” club president Joan Laporta said on Thursday.
The Spanish league, meanwhile, continued to work to get the final approvals to play the Villarreal-Barcelona match in Miami in December. It hoped for UEFA’s approval later Thursday. (AP)