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Ronald Koeman has named a 23-man squad for Barcelona’s La Liga clash with Real Betis on Saturday at the Camp Nou.
Midfielder Riqui Puig returns after being left out against Alaves, while Barca B youngsters Oscar Mingueza, Konrad de la Fuente, and Arnau Tenas are all included.
The squad for #BarçaBetis!
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Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is also in the squad for the first time this season in La Liga after making his return to action after a knee injury in the midweek Champions League win over Dynamo Kiev.
The German is expected to replace Neto in the line-up after an impressive performance on his comeback. Samuel Umtiti, Ronald Araujo, and Philippe Coutinho remain on the injured list and miss out again.
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Koeman Expecting ‘Complicated’ Match
Koeman heads into the match needing a win after seeing his side take just two points from the last 12 available in La Liga. The Dutch coach discussed the game on Friday in his pre-match press conference.
Any game is important, it doesn’t depend on the situation that we are in, It’s at home against a team that play good football and it’s a complicated game. We have to correct Wednesday’s mistakes, especially in defense. We must be much more involved, more organised, we’ve trained this morning to try and improve things and we are ready.
Barca did win in midweek against Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League but it was a far from convincing performance by the Catalan giants who needed goalkeeper Ter Stegen to make some crucial saves against a weakened visiting side.
Koeman praised the Germany international for his heroics on what his first appearance of the season for Barca.
We’ve not rushed to put Marc in, we wanted to wait to see him in training to see if he was ok. But of course it’s important for him to play after such a long time. He worked hard, he had lots of 1 on 1s and he saved them. So in his first match he’s been fantastic, we know he’s great, I’m very happy with his performance after such a long time away.
Koeman will hope Ter Stegen is not kept as busy on Saturday afternoon but will know Betis head into the match full of confidence. Manuel Pellegrini’s side beat Elche 3-1 last time out and sit in seventh place in the table.
Betis Captain Wants Perfect Performance
Real Betis captain Joaquin has urged his side to put in a perfect performance if they are to depart the Camp Nou with all three points on Saturday. The winger has slammed Koeman ahead of the match, discussing the “bad time” he had while working at Valencia under the coach.
The 39-year-old has also now spoken about how he’s hoping his team can inflict a third defeat of the season on Barca, are reported by Mundo Deportivo.
The idea is to win, whatever way; whenever you go to the Camp Nou you have to play the perfect game, compete until the end and score the chances you have. We go with the philosophy of the last match, that of going for the game with our weapons and knowing that we have to compete at 200%, being aware of the difficulty that the Camp Nou entails.
Barca will certainly need to improve on recent performances if they are to pick up a much-needed win. The Catalan giants are usually formidable at home but were beaten last time out at the Camp Nou in El Clasico.
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