#injury-management

#injury-management

Rafael Leao trained with the team, but he may not be ready yet. Reports suggest that he has spent the last two weeks working on his fitness, trying to get to 100%.

We have spent the last 18 months developing the player pool so we can be prepared to make the correct decisions for the World Cup roster, and this is another valuable opportunity. We must treat these games like they are a part of the World Cup, and what is most important is that the players bring the right mentality and commitment to the group.

Estupinan smashed the ball into the net leaving Yann Sommer surprised and frozen. Allegri's tactical tweaks taking advantage of the wide areas - occupied by Luis Henrique especially - paid off. The gap to first place and Inter was reduced to seven points.

We didn't play well with the ball, we lost possession too often, which is what Newcastle want. We knew that when they pass the ball, they are very quick. It wasn't easy, but I'm very happy with my team, especially the defence; we defended very well on the pitch.

Barcelona suffered elimination from the Copa del Rey earlier in the week despite winning 3-0 against Atletico Madrid, due to their 4-0 loss in the first leg last month. Having put up a strong performance in the previous match, irrespective of the outcome, Barcelona will want to build on that and generate more steam heading into the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 against Newcastle United next week.