Unbeaten in six matches, Barcelona needs to win Saturday's home game with lowly Real Sociedad to be assured of retaining the leadership. In another game Real Madrid and Sevilla will be struggling to gain ground and first place. Real Madrid is second place with 29 points while Sevilla is second with 28. Barca, is the leader with 30.
The champion will be in a very confident mood after the 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen four days earlier which secured its passage into the Champions League knockout phase and permitted them to obtain second place in the qualification for the next round.
Bet on Barcelona v. Real Sociedad at Bodog.com
Brazilian playmaker Ronaldihno scored the opening goal and set up the second in Barcelona's 2-0 win over Werder Bremen on Tuesday to send the Catalan club into the final 16 of European soccer's top club competition. Ronaldinho surprised the Bremen defense in the 13th minute by rolling his free kick along the ground under the jumping defensive wall and inside the right post from just outside the area.
"It was authentic genius," Barca manager Frank Rijkaard said. "This result brings us a lot of tranquillity," he commented about the road win.
Five minutes later, Ronaldinho played a pass that led to Eidur Gudjohnsen slapping in a centering pass from Ludovic Giuly to double the score, and the Bundesliga-leading side found itself playing catch up against the defending champions in their own backyard.
Bet on Barcelona v. Real Sociedad at PinnacleSports
"We finished the job in the first half," Gudjohnsen said. "We kept our concentration and it was a pity we didn't score even earlier. It's important for the attack to click together like we did. We killed the match off."
The Spanish champion's next opponents won't be so easy. Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich, French champion Lyon, 2005 winner Liverpool and 2003 winner AC Milan are just a few of Barcelona's potential opponents. A Champions League final rematch with Arsenal or Premier League-leading Manchester United could also be in the cards.
"I don't have a preference who we meet in the second round," Marquez said. "But I'd still like to miss playing Lyon."
Already lacking injured forwards Samuel Eto'o, Lionel Messi and Javier Saviola, Barcelona may also be without midfielder Andres Iniesta, who sprained his ankle against the German team.
The match is the European champion's final one before it travels to Japan for the World Club Championship. Barcelona opens in Yokohama next Thursday with a semifinal against the winner of Mexico's America and South Korea's Jeonbuk Motors.
Bottom dweller Real Sociedad remains without a victory this season although they have drawn their last four games. To add to their catastrophes Sociedad's Adriano Rossato had his right cheekbone fractured in a fight with a teammate during training on Wednesday.
Bet on Barcelona v. Real Sociedad at Bodog.com
The Brazilian left-back fought with fellow defender Juanito Gutierrez and will require surgery later Wednesday; this was the club's official statement on the issue.
"It was a sad episode," Juanito said. "Sometimes we lose our heads, we suddenly get angry on the field and then we embarrass even ourselves." The fight placed further difficulties on Sociedad, whose failure to win any of its 13 league games this season is threatening its 39-year stay in the first division. The Basque team, which is 19th in the 20 team league, faces a tough match on Saturday at leader and defending champion FC Barcelona.
Clear favorite Barcelona is -1½ -143 at Pinnacle, not such good value. I can see them winning but not covering that spread. The game could easily end 2-0 or 2-1, which by the way would be a nice try for an under 3 -125.
At Bodog Real Sociedad is a whopping +1250, Barcelona is a little road tired. I wouldn't mind taking a swing at that, in soccer anything is possible.
