Barcelona star Javier Mascherano has backed Sergio Busquets to make an unexpected return from injury for tomorrow’s Clasico clash with Real Madrid at the Nou Camp – even though it may cost him his place in the team.
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Busquets has been out of action since injuring his ankle in the Copa del Rey victory over Villarreal two and a half weeks ago and was thought to have little chance of regaining fitness in time for this weekend’s six-pointer in the La Liga title race.
But the central midfielder returned to training with his teammates on Thursday and his fitness will be further assessed in today’s training session before manager Luis Enrique makes a decision.
Mascherano has been filling in for Busquets in the centre of midfield during the Spain international’s absence, and the good form of central defender Jeremy Mathieu means that Enrique may be reluctant to disrupt his partnership with Gerard Pique for the sake of moving Mascherano back into defence.
But the Argentine ace is adopting a selfless approach, proclaiming: “I’d love Busi to make it, even if it meant I had to watch from the bench.
“It’s very egotistical to think of yourself and the best thing for the team would be for Busquets to play, because he’s the best in that position. I don’t take an individual point of view and I’m prepared for whatever happens.”
Mascherano also discounted the significance of the recent poor form suffered by Los Blancos, who have dropped points in three of their last six league games whilst also scrambling through to the Champions League last eight after suffering a 4-3 home defeat against Schalke.
Adhering to the old maxim that the form guide is of little value for meetings between Spanish football’s biggest rivals, Mascherano noted: “It doesn’t really matter how you come into a Clasico. It’s always a special game, and Sunday will be a very important occasion against an opponent who will demand the very maximum from us.”
Madrid striker Karim Benzema, meanwhile, has defended his much-scrutinised strike partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, which has struggled for effectiveness in recent weeks.
The trio have combined for a respectable 15 goals in their last 12 league games since the turn of the year, but those figures pale into insignificance compared to the exploits of Barcelona’s front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
The Barca forward line have registered 29 goals in their 11 La Liga encounters in 2015, with Messi accounting for more of those – 17 – than Madrid’s front three put together.
But Benzema said: “We work together in attack and defence. We have good games when we score and others when we don’t, but we always play for the team. We only think about working together so we win together.”
The French striker also believes his team’s chances of tasting success have been greatly enhanced by the return to fitness of key duo Sergio Ramos and Luka Modric.
He particularly singled out the midfielder Modric, who is back from three months on the sidelines with a thigh injury. “Strikers love playing alongside Luka because his final ball is amazing,” he said.