By Jake Glavies
An already depleted Barcelona defense received another blow Tuesday, as defensive ace Eric Abidal has been sidelined for the next two months with a leg injury. Abidal suffered the injury during a routine practice with the club.
The Frenchman is just the most recent scratch for Barca, though. Abidal joined Dani Alves and Yaya Toure on the injury report, while Rafael Marquez and Gerard Pique were handed suspensions for Sunday’s match at Atletico Madrid after receiving red cards during a slim 2-1 victory over Getafe Saturday.
The change in line-up couldn’t have come at a worse time for manager Pep Guardiola. With Real Madrid – winners of seven of its last nine matches – gunning for the top spot in La Liga, Barcelona will have to keep winning just to stay one step ahead of Los Blancos. Only five points back in the league standings, Real Madrid is hot and only getting hotter. Cristiano Ronaldo, the most feared goal scorer in the world, will return from a two match suspension in time to regain his form against league bottom dweller Xerez Saturday.
With Madrid pushing for a title, a trip to face a mediocre Atlético Madrid squad could be a tall order for a diminished Barça team. Atlético is currently 12th in the league, but it packs a very potent goal scoring punch. The duo of Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero has produced a combined 17 goals for Los Rojiblancos this season and it could also produce quite a few headaches for a weakened Barcelona defense.
Despite the task before them, Guardiola knows how to win, keeping his team out of the losing column this season while racking up only four draws. If Barca wants to avoid its first loss of the year though, it’ll have to lean heavily on its own offensive duo – Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Perhaps the most feared tandem in the game today, Messi and Ibrahimovic have combined for 27 goals this year. Though Ibrahimovic has failed to find the back of the net in five-straight league contests, all it’ll take is an open crease for him to find the stat sheet once again.
With upcoming matches against Racing Santander, Malaga and Almeria – who have combined for only 15 victories this season – Guardiola will have time to wait for his defense to heal, but not too much, as Barça will travel to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu April 11 for a clash with Los Galacticos.
