Barcelona are just a week away from the next El Clasico against their most bitter rivals, but in the here and now they have bigger problems to solve. Their form has fallen off a cliff in the past couple of weeks, and with injuries and suspensions mounting while they prepare to face Real Sociedad on Saturday, they need to find answers fast.
Barcelona vs. Real Sociedad 2017 live stream: Time, TV channel, and how to watch online
Barcelona’s form is slipping at a terrible time, with El Clasico just one week away.
Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images
Barcelona’s standing in the La Liga table is not in a bad place, but they need to find a way to win El Clasico against Real Madrid to make it a good place. But in their current form — dropping two straight matches that included a heartbreaking battering at the hands of Juventus in the Champions League at midweek — it doesn’t look likely that Barcelona can pull that off. They have to find their way against Sociedad this weekend, and that means they need an emphatic, decisive win against another team that hasn’t been in the best of form of late.
Barcelona are dealing with the start of Neymar’s three-match suspension, plus a big trio of injuries that could give them some problems. Javier Mascherano and Alexis Vidal are missing from their back line, and Rafinha is out for the season. Barcelona might be getting Arda Turan back for this match, but at this point in his career he can’t give Barcelona the same things Rafinha does.
Real Sociedad have one important player guaranteed out via suspension — nine-goal scoring forward Juanmi Jimenez — but the bigger question for them is the plethora of important starters and rotation members who are in doubt with various knocks and injuries. Each of Raul Navas, Geronimo Rulli, Yuri Berchiche, and Alvaro Odiozola are in doubt, who total almost 100 league appearances for Sociedad between them. Throw in the absent Juanmi’s 29 league appearances this season, and that’s a lot of playing time and experience missing from Sociedad’s team at a crucial time.
Match info, plus how to watch on TV and stream
Match Date/Time: Saturday, 2:45 p.m. ET, 8:45 p.m. local
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. - English), beIN Sports en Español (U.S. - Spanish)
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S.)
Make friends: Check out Barca Blaugranes for everything you need to know about Barcelona.
Listings for more countries can be found at LiveSoccerTV.
See More:
