Painful Sevilla memories: García scenario threatens Barcelona's run | Goal.com
Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia has caused concern among the Catalan club's fans after being substituted in the match against Racing Santander, leaving his participation in the upcoming game against Sevilla in doubt.
Hansi Flick surprised everyone at half-time of the Racing match, hauling off Garcia for the first time this season and turning to veteran Wojciech Szczesny.
An injury lay behind the change, according to press reports. Chasing a ball that had gone out of play at the end of the first half, the goalkeeper slipped on the wet artificial turf, twisting his ankle in an awkward movement.
The reports call the injury minor, yet they refuse to rule out the Spanish goalkeeper missing Barcelona's match against Sevilla, set for next Saturday at the "Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan" stadium in the seventh round of La Liga.
Garcia's absence from the Sevilla clash would bring last season's nightmare flooding back, one Barcelona fans desperately hope will not repeat itself.
The season had begun superbly. Barcelona won five of their first six matches, dropping only a 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano, before Garcia picked up an injury against Real Oviedo and forced Flick to lean on substitute Szczesny.
In the first match after that injury, Szczesny passed the test, steering the team to a valuable 2-1 win over Real Sociedad at the "Spotify Camp Nou".
Then came catastrophe. Barcelona were thumped 4-1 by Sevilla at the "Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan" in the eighth round.
Played last October, that match saw Szczesny concede four goals to Alexis Sanchez (from a penalty), Isaac Romero Bernal, Jose Angel Carmona and Akor Adams, with Marcus Rashford scoring the goal that saved Catalan face.
Barcelona return to face the same opponent at the same stadium in a matter of days, with Szczesny potentially standing between the posts once again.
Worse still, the Pole's return to the Barcelona goal this season already carries a fresh calamity that only deepens the concern.
Against Racing, Szczesny came off the bench and dawdled with the ball in front of his own goal. Morocco's Yasser Zabiri pounced, punishing the error to make it the visitors' second.
This time Barcelona arrive at Sevilla's stronghold on an unprecedented run, having won their first seven matches in all competitions this season, six in the Spanish league and one in the Champions League.
They have also plundered 33 goals across those matches, a rate nudging five per game.
So will Barcelona pass the Andalusian test on the back of the terrifying form they are producing, or fall into the trap with their first-choice goalkeeper possibly missing?
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