Barcelona discouraged by setbacks ahead of Madrid clasico

Barca have lost on their last four league visits to Anoeta, twice under Luis Enrique, last winning there in 2007 under Frank Rijkaard, although Sociedad were outside the top flight between 2007 and 2010. These two squads have been going at it for 100 years now, and it always provides fans with nonstop action.

– Only Alfredo Di Stefano (18) scored more goals against Barcelona for Real Madrid than Ronaldo.

Sociedad are just four points behind their opponents and could cause problems for Messi & co.

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has insisted that his side are still “favourites” for a successful season, despite a number of setbacks in recent weeks. Without Bale on the field, Karim Benzema must step up to fill that void without sacrificing his middle field awareness. “We barely existed in the first half and improved a bit in the second but it’s hard to win the league playing like this”. Neymar knows he has to bounce out of this goal slump, and this is the ideal time to show up.

The Spanish playmaker has two assists in five domestic appearances, while in the Champions League he has contributed a goal and two assists.

As always, much of the problems now being experienced by Barca – and the potential solution – centre around Lionel Messi, who scored an excellent equaliser at the Anoeta on Sunday but was otherwise exceptionally quiet, touching the ball just 58 times – fewer than 11 other players on the pitch.

This game will be played at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain.

Real Madrid’s sixth straight win took them six points clear at the top of the table on Saturday night.

“Most teams try to get the better of us by defending but they played a good game, trying to play with the ball, and they deserved the three points”, added Enrique.

Zinedine Zidane’s men defeated Sporting Gijon 2-1 on Saturday, while Barca’s inconsistent run continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Real Sociedad.

This is it for Barcelona.

Arda Turan is also ready to make a comeback against Hercules after missing the weekend draw with Real Sociedad, but Alba will miss the Copa del Rey encounter after picking up a new injury at San Sebastian.

“Sometimes you can win and lose your style of play, but the other thing (attitude) is the most important thing”.

In Milan, a quickfire brace from Giovanni Simeone, the son of Atletico Madrid coach Diego, carved the Serie A title race open Sunday as Genoa claimed a stunning 3-1 win over leader Juventus.

Gerard Pique is fully recovered and will start the game alongside Javier Mascherano in central defense for the team win.