Messi likely to start today in away game against Granada

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Messi likely to start today in away game against Granada
Lionel Messi

Madrid - Barcelona take on Granada in an away game on Saturday

By AFP

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Published: Fri 20 Sep 2019, 11:22 PM

Last updated: Sat 21 Sep 2019, 1:24 AM

Lionel Messi is in line for his first league start of the season after he came on late at Borussia Dortmund in Europe in midweek.
Barcelona take on Granada in an away game on Saturday.
The Argentine wizard, who missed the beginning of the campaign with a calf injury, was unable to lift his team past the Germans, who held on for a 0-0 draw in their Champions League opener.
Barca fans will hope his partnership with new signing Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez can revive memories of the fearsome attacking trident that lost much of its lustre following the 2017 sale of Neymar.
With their stadium nestled in the Sierra Nevada not far from the ancient Alhambra fortress promoted, Granada are punching above their weight this season as their coach Diego Martinez admitted after last week's win at Celta Vigo.
"If you had told me when the calendar came out we'd have seven points already, I'd have thought you very optimistic," he said. Meanwhile, table-toppers Sevilla await Zinedine Zidane's injury-stricken Real Madrid.
Real, thrashed in the Champions League by PSG midweek, face a daunting challenge to regroup at Sevilla, while Barcelona go to an unlikely mountain stronghold to face plucky Granada.
Led by Julen Lopetegui, sacked by Spain on the eve of last year's World Cup for accepting a job at Real, the coach will have extra motivation to prove himself after flopping in the Madrid hot-seat.
His current charges are on ten points from four matches, but Real can climb above them on Sunday with an away win.
"Being top means nothing," Lopetegui said last week. "But it does tell us the team is doing things well."
Sevilla did well again in the Europa League on Thursday coming back from a marathon trip to Baku with a 3-0 win at Qarabag.
Real have lost on their last four visits to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, and on six of their last seven trips there. 
 


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