Barcelona: FC Barcelona will be without strikers Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi when they travel to Athletic Club Bilbao’s San Mames Stadium for the first leg of their Spanish Cup quarter-final on Wednesday.
The game is a repeat of last season’s final, which Barcelona won 3-1 and comes just three days after the Catalan football giants defeated Bilbao 6-0 in the La Liga at the Camp Nou stadium.
However, Sunday’s result should have little relevance for a game, which looked over in the fourth minute when Bilbao were reduced to 10 men after Gorka Iraizoz was sent off for conceding a penalty — and Messi had put Barcelona 1-0 ahead with 86 minutes remaining. Bilbao’s players commented after that match that the cup would be different with Messi having a muscle problem and Suarez suspended.
Bilbao will also have striker Aritz Aduriz fresh and available after missing out at the weekend and a packed house to make life a lot more hostile for the Cup holders.
The other quarter-finals see Celta Vigo entertain league leaders Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, while Thursday sees Sevilla entertain second division Mirandes and Valencia try to forget their league woes at home to Las Palmas.
The return legs are the following week.
He may be missing for the cup clash, but Brendan Rodgers believes Luis Suarez is on his way to becoming the best player in the world — and says it is “incredible” that he did not make the final three of the Ballon d’Or.
Suarez, who was sold by then-Liverpool manager Rodgers to Barcelona in 2014, is the leading scorer in La Liga this season ahead of Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, he did not make the final three-man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or, with Neymar and Ronaldo joining eventual winner Lionel Messi.
Asked on Monday Night Football on Sky Sports whether Suarez is close to being the best in the world, Rodgers said: “He’s on his way. For him not to be in the top three of the Ballon d’Or was incredible.
“It shows there are other politics about him not being mentioned in that bracket. He left Liverpool a world-class player and he’s made Barcelona better.
“I think playing with that level of player is making him a better player and he’s still young enough to win that accolade [Ballon d’Or]. He’s certainly up there with the best. If I was to have any striker in my team, apart from Lionel Messi, then Suarez would be the one.”
Former Liverpool defender and teammate Jamie Carragher added that he thinks the Uruguayan is the “best striker in the world”.
“I think he’s better than Neymar — although he’s a fantastic player,” said Carragher.
