MADRID, Sept 12 (Askume) – Hansi Flick’s Barcelona have started the new season with four consecutive wins and fans will be thrilled as they enter Sunday’s Catalan derby, an hour’s drive to neighbours Verona, aiming to avenge last season’s two defeats.
Verona finished third their best-ever last season and qualified for the Champions League for the first time, but got off to a slow start to the new season, drawing with Real Betis in the first game and then losing 1–3 to Atletico Madrid.
However, they recorded solid wins against Osasuna and Sevilla and looked like the exciting attacking unit that won La Liga titles in historic campaigns.
Riding on the wealth of their Abu Dhabi owner, just four years after promotion to the top flight, Verona battled with Real Madrid in last season’s title race.
They also beat Barcelona twice and contributed to the Catalan rivals’ trophy-less season, which ended with the controversial dismissal of their manager.
Barcelona had to release players such as Ilkay Gundogan, Clement Lenglet and Vitor Roque to comply with La Liga’s strict Financial Fair Play rules, and were unable to re-sign Portugal’s Joao Angelo Felix and Joao Cancelo.
They have only brought in one big-name player in the transfer market – Spanish attacking midfielder Dani Olmo from Red Bull Leipzig.
Exciting start
Real Madrid have added France captain Kylian Mbappe to their already star-studded squad, which has won the La Liga Champions League twice. There are many rumours that Barca fans are not optimistic about the club adding former Bayern Munich and Germany coach Flick to the squad, who will help them regain their foothold domestically and in Europe.
However, Barca have started the season with an attacking line-up led by young forward Robert Lewandowski, who is La Liga’s top scorer with four goals, and teenage star Ramin Yamal, who helped Spain qualify for Euro 2024 after Olmo shone in the second half to help them win.
Brazilian striker Rafinha has finally become the difference-maker Barcelona hoped for since they bought him from Leeds United two years ago for 60 million euros ($66.16 million).
Although midfielder Fermin Lopez suffered a foot injury while training with Spain’s Under-21s last week and will be out for around three weeks, Flick has made all his other responsibilities available after international duty, with the player recovering well.
In contrast, Real Madrid’s 26-year-old centre-back Eder Militao, who missed much of last season with a torn ACL, is the latest injury victim, having played in World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay with a foot problem.
Midfielders Aurelien Shomeni and Dani Ceballos and left-back Ferland Mendy were injured in the 2-0 win over Real Betis two weeks ago, while England’s Jude Bellingham Tom, France’s Eduardo Camavinga and Austria’s David Alaba are also out on injured reserve.
This has created a selection dilemma for manager Carlo Ancelotti ahead of Saturday’s clash with Real Sociedad.
Barcelona top the table with 12 points, four ahead of Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Villarreal, and five ahead of fifth-placed Verona.
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