Neymar will return for Barcelona in Saturday`s Catalan derby at Espanyol, coach Luis Enrique has said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, Barca may be without Andres Iniesta at Cornella-El Prat, with a decision on the midfielder`s groin problem to be taken on the day of the game.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Neymar is ready to compete,” Luis Enrique confirmed at a news conference on Friday.<\/p>\n
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Asked whether Espanyol`s players could attempt to provoke the Brazilian, the coach added: “He is a specialist at dealing with these types of situation.<\/p>\n
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“If there`s a player that receives the most fouls it`s Neymar, and I think he can control these situations perfectly.<\/p>\n
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“But a derby against Espanyol is a game when control is needed from all the players.”<\/p>\n
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Barcelona have been dependent on Lionel Messi in the three games Neymar missed, with the Argentine scoring six times.<\/p>\n
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Luis Suarez, however, has not scored in five appearances since the win over Sevilla on April 5 and was rested against Osasuna on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
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But Luis Enrique said: “I am not worried, because if you look at his figures it is not just about scoring goals — which he`s spectacular at — but about assists and infinite other things he contributes to the team.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Iniesta is a major doubt for the game having missed training on Friday, and could join Jeremy Mathieu, Rafinha and Aleix Vidal on the sidelines.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Luis Enrique said Vidal was progressing “much better than expected” after a dislocated ankle.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Barca are currently level with Real Madrid — who have a game in hand — on 78 points at the top of the table, although they lead the way courtesy of their superior head-to-head record.<\/p>\n
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The build-up to Barca`s game at Espanyol has been marred by controversy, with Malaga president Abdullah Al-Thani describing them as “Catalan scum” on Twitter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But Luis Enrique said: “I have absolutely no interest in these things which aren`t to do with the sporting side of the game.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“All games are important at this stage of the season. Obviously it`s a difficult game. We know Espanyol very well, they know us and they`re always especially up for games against us, so let`s see how it unfolds.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Neymar will return for Barcelona in Saturday`s Catalan derby at Espanyol, coach Luis Enrique has said. However, Barca may be without Andres Iniesta at Cornella-El Prat, with a decision on the midfielder`s groin problem to be taken on the day of the game. “Neymar is ready to compete,” Luis Enrique confirmed at a news conference on Friday. Asked whether Espanyol`s players could attempt to provoke the Brazilian, the coach added: “He is a specialist at dealing with these types of situation. “If there`s a player that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6346,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6345"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6345"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6347,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6345\/revisions\/6347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}