Few defeats have had more consequences than Barcelona's 1-0 against Real Sociedad at the Estadio de Anoeta in January 2015, a real watershed moment for everyone at the club but particularly for Luis Enrique's 'protector' Andoni Zubizarreta, who was sacked shortly after. An early own goal by Jordi Alba ended up causing an unprecedented crisis. Neymar and Lionel Messi, who enjoyed extra leave over the Christmas period, didn't start and in light of the result and manner of the performance, that forged a wedge between some players and Luis Enrique. The Argentinian was in a rage about the defeat and his position as substitute, and as a result stayed away from Barcelona's traditional open training session for the public at the Mini Estadi. Zubizarreta was subsequently dismissed by Josep Maria Bartomeu for controversial statements made about the FIFA sanction [Barcelona unable to sign players] and the president, who had held the post without being elected, then called for new elections at the end of the season. Joan Laporta was defeated by Bartomeu, largely because the first team would end up finishing a spectacular season with another treble.
It meant that Luis Enrique's own position was irreversible despite the Asturian suggesting that he felt 'weakened' by Zubi's sacking. Eusebio Sacristan, now Sociedad's first-team coach but at that point the coach of Barcelona B, felt much the same. Unfortunately for Eusebio, his results didn't mirror those of Enrique and he was dispensed with at the end of the campaign, Jordi Vinyals taking his place. The Castillian has had the last laugh however, taking over in San Sebastian from David Moyes and guiding La Real to the upper echelons of LaLiga whilst playing some terrific football.In their past seven visits, Barcelona have recorded five defeats and two draws, and after Real Madrid's victory this weekend, Luis Enrique's side will be looking to cut the gap to four points heading into next weekend's Clasico. There is disappointing news for Barcelona as, despite returning to training, the fixture has come too soon for Andres Iniesta, so Luis Enrique will look to play either Andre Gomes or Denis Suarez alongside Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets in midfield.
Gomes moved to Barcelona from Valencia for a big fee this summer, but he has thus far been unable to force himself into the starting line-up on a continuous basis. Instead, Denis Suarez has taken his chances and will come into the game on the back of a lot of confidence after impressing against Sevilla recently. The 22-year-old Galician also scored two goals on his last visit to Anoeta as Villarreal won 2-0. His first was a shot that beat Geronimo Rulli from just outside the box, and the second came after Rulli rushed out from his goal and Suarez calmly passed into the empty net after dribbling the ball forward. He did not play against Celtic in the Champions League in midweek, so the Asturian boss will be able to count on Suarez to come in and make an immediate impact. The question will be whether Luis Enrique is prepared to trust the midfielder in such an important match.
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