Eibar vs Barcelona - Iniesta misses Eibar trip as Enrique seeks consistency

Posted Saturday, January 21, 2017 by PA

Barcelona will be without captain Andres Iniesta for the trip to Eibar on Sunday due to a calf injury.

The midfielder was substituted at half-time during the Copa del Rey win over Real Sociedad on Thursday and will miss the trip to Eibar, with Andre Gomes expected to take his place.

Barcelona will be looking to keep pace with the top two, Sevilla and Real Madrid, who will both be in action before Luis Enrique's men walk out at the Ipurua.

Despite stringing together three wins on the bounce, Enrique admitted Iniesta will be a big loss to his side.

"There is no-one else like him in the squad, nor in world football," he said at his pre-match press conference. "That's the problem. I have good players in that position but nobody is like Iniesta."

He added: "I have a good selection of players in that position and they all can bring things to the team in defence and attack."

The Barcelona manager is looking for his side to put together a consistent run of performances, something which has eluded them so far this season.

"We have been looking for a long run of good results since the start of the season but we haven't managed it yet," he said.

"Let's hope now we can put a good run of results together because we need it - above all to put pressure on the sides above us in the table."

Enrique expects a tough challenge from Eibar, who have managed just one win in their last five LaLiga matches.

"Eibar will be loyal to the style that has got them to where they are at the moment in the league," he said. "They always make it difficult for you and we need to be at our best with the ball and well positioned to find a way through."

Eibar coach Jose Luis Mendilibar insists his side will not sit back against the Spanish giants.

He said: "When you come up against Barca you've got two options.

"You can either go out and put them under pressure or hang back and wait for them in your own box; we'll be going with the first option.

"I don't want us to go and get the ball off Barcelona, that would be virtually impossible. What I want us to do is to have a lot of the ball in Barcelona's half.

"We wouldn't be Eibar if we were winning against Sporting, Granada, Depor and then also beat Barcelona, Madrid and Villarreal - we'd be Bayern (Munich).

"We need to try and win everywhere we go and compete against anyone, but we've got our limits."