On-form Zaragoza to test FC Barcelona

An on-form Zaragoza will host FC Barcelona this Saturday as the Aragón side looks to continue their run of good results.

This Saturday FC Barcelona will travel to La Romareda to play against the second-from-the-bottom team in the Liga. Despite the distance between the two in the table, Zaragoza have found their form of late and the face off promises to be a tough one for Guardiola’s men. The Aragón side have won their last three matches; what once was a 12-point climb out of the relegation zone has turned into only 4.

The man responsible for turning the once-ailing Zaragoza team around is manager Manolo Jiménez. The Andalusian took charge of the morale-depleted team at the start of the calendar year and injected hope into the Aragón side. Since Jiménez took the reigns, the all-whites have won five games, drawn three and lost six.

After 16 consecutive matches at the bottom of the table, the “in extremis” victory against Sporting Gijón - direct rival - saw Zaragoza jump to the 18th spot of the table. Before that, the team won two games in a row; the first against Atlético Madrid (1-0) and against Valencia (1-2 - despite finishing the match with nine men).

Jiménez will not be able to use three of his favourite players on Saturday: the defender Mateos, the midfielder Apoño and the striker Luis García. Two ex-Barça B players, however, will be ready should Jiménez call on them to play against their former team: Abraham Minero and Edu Oriol. (via FCBarcelona.com)