Yellow Sub Marine to push Barcelona – The Kampala Report

Barcelona’s injury ravaged squad come under severe stress when the Liga Santander leaders face Villarreal at Estadio de la Ceramica on Sunday in the first of four games in ten days. Hans Deiter Flick’s Blaugrana are seeking to bounce back from Thursday’s shock 1-2 defeat at Monaco but are without several first team regulars.

£60m summer signing Dani Olmo and Paris 2024 star Fermin Lopez are the latest to join a long list of absentees that already includes Ronald Araujo, Pablo Martin Gavira ‘Gavi’, Frenkie de Jong, Andreas Christensen and Marc Bernal.

Marcelino Garcia Toral’s Yellow Sub Marine are certain to push the Catalan giants as they are unbeaten in five outings and boast a formidable front four of Spanish internationals Alex Baena, Ayoze Perez, Gerard Moreno and Yeremy Pino.

Liga Santander player of the month August Raphinha Dias will once again be deployed in attacking midfield where he will be charged with creating chances for the front three of Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.

Real Madrid can move within a point of the summit if they overcome unpredictable Espanyol today. Carlo Ancelotti’s La Liga and Uefa Champions League winners were not at their imperious best in taming Stuttgart 3-1 on Tuesday but are heavy favourites to subdue the newcomers.

Despite becoming Los Blancos’ youngest ever scorer in the Uefa Champions League, 18-year-old star Endrick should continue to provide a supporting cast of first choice attacking trident of Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes and Kylian Mbappe Lottin off the bench.

Match day six commenced on Friday night with Deportivo Alaves rolling past Sevilla 2-1. Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid will be counting on summer signings Conor Gallagher and Julian Alvarez when his side make the difficult trip to Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

TODAY
Real Valladolid v Real Sociedad,
Osasuna v Las Palmas,
Valencia v Girona,
Real Madrid v Espanyol

SUNDAY
Getafe v Leganes,
Athletic Bilbao v Celta Vigo,
Villarreal v Barcelona,
Rayo Vallecano v Atletico Madrid

MONDAY
Real Betis v Mallorca