Barcelona have been firmly brought back down to earth in the space of the last week. Following an incredible run of form, Eintracht Frankfurt promptly dumped them out of the Europa League a week ago and on Monday, Cadiz more or less ended any hope the Blaugrana had of the league title.
Not only were Barcelona defeated on both occasions, the performances were flat too. Vulnerable in defence and lacking in ideas up front, which has caused a great deal of concern for Xavi Hernandez.
The good news for him is that he may have two key players back for their important away trip to Real Sociedad. The Txuri-Urdin are looking to close the gap to the top four and defeat for Barcelona could leave them just two points ahead of La Real. Central defenders Gerard Pique and Ronald Araujo should be available for Xavi, after missing the match against Cadiz.
Pique, who is currently embroiled in controversy over his dealings with the Spanish Football Federation, has missed the last three matches with discomfort but re-joined training today according to Diario AS. Araujo was suspended for the match against Cadiz.
Xavi has an almost full squad to select from against La Real, although he is missing key players like Pedri and Ansu Fati. Sergi Roberto and Samuel Umtiti are also not yet fit, but Dani Alves has recovered from ankle problems.
