31/03/2006
Barça-Real at mercy of referee strike

The eagerly awaited Spanish league match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid remained in doubt Thursday after the referees maintained their threat to go on strike.

The referees were expected to abandon the threat, which would force the postponement of this weekend's games, when league president Jose Luis Astiazaran said they would receive outstanding payments for February and March via the Spanish soccer federation and not directly from the league.

However, referees' spokesman Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez said the strike may not be called off as it was impossible for referees to receive the money by Friday, the deadline they had given for strike action to be avoided.

Referees threatened action last week after the federation, which normally pays the referees, returned a payment from the league on the grounds that it didn't meet the entire sum owed.

The strike threat has overshadowed the run-up to Saturday's game at Camp Nou stadium, which may virtually hand Barcelona its 18th Spanish league title.

If Madrid loses, it would leave Barcelona 14 points clear with seven games remaining and almost certainly sentence the 29-time champion to a third straight season without a trophy -- its worst spell since the early 1950s.

However, Madrid is hopeful of an upset, which would give it renewed hope of overtaking Barcelona.

"We know we haven't got much chance of the league but what we have depends on us winning in Barcelona. We need to have the conviction that we can do it and in the dressing room the feeling is there," Madrid captain Raul Gonzalez said.

Raul, who has played against Barcelona 29 times, may be omitted from Madrid's starting lineup after struggling since returning last month from the serious knee injury the striker sustained during November's game with the Catalan team.

Instead, Madrid is expected to place its faith in a revitalized Ronaldo, who ended a goal drought stretching to Feb. 14 by scoring twice in his last two games against Zaragoza and Deportivo La Coruna.

"After the Deportivo game he was happy. No player likes to be in his situation. I can confirm he's had a bad time. He couldn't score and he lives for that," teammate Julio Baptista told sports daily As this week.

Madrid wants to atone for its 3-0 demolition at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the teams' earlier meeting -- Barcelona's biggest win at the stadium since the 1984-85 season.

Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o, the league's leading scorer with 22 goals, said his side needs to be careful despite its superiority.

"When Madrid has a good night it can score five easily, although if we play as we know how, we are unbeatable," the Cameroon striker told sports daily Mundo Deportivo on Thursday.

Barcelona will hope to display better marksmanship than in its 0-0 draw with Benfica on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.

"That game shouldn't affect us. One of the most important things for a player is to be able to forget about the previous game," Eto'o said.

The defending champion will welcome captain Carles Puyol back from suspension, although Edmilson, Lionel Messi and Rafael Marquez are still injured, along with long-term casualty Xavi Hernandez.

Madrid will again be without injured defender Jonathan Woodgate, who has been sidelined for six weeks. Midfielder Pablo Garcia may make the bench after three months' absence with a torn knee ligament.

Barcelona leads the league with 68 points, followed by Madrid with 57 and Osasuna with 55. Valencia is next with 53 points, while Sevilla has 51.

In other 31st-round games, Osasuna, which suffered its first defeat in four games last Saturday, aims to bounce back when it hosts Getafe on Sunday.

Valencia, winless in six matches, will seek to halt its slide on Sunday when it entertains relegation-threatened Cadiz.

Sevilla, aiming for a Champions League debut next season, visits crosstown rival Real Betis in an encounter which is often marred by crowd trouble.

Eighth-place Villarreal visits 10th-place Zaragoza on Saturday, three days after its 2-1 defeat by Inter Milan in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.

Also, it's: Atletico Madrid vs. Celta Vigo; Mallorca vs. Espanyol; Alaves vs. Athletic Bilbao; Real Sociedad vs. Malaga; and Deportivo La Coruna vs. Racing Santander.

31.03.2006 21:15 +0300
AFP