Barrenetxea blow for La Real ahead of San Mamés derby showdown

Real Sociedad’s preparations for Sunday’s heated Basque derby have hit a snag with key winger Ander Barrenetxea missing the penultimate training session before the short trip to San Mamés.

Derby day doubts

Barrenetxea’s absence from training raises serious questions about his availability for the clash against Athletic Bilbao. The talented number 7 is nursing a knock that kept him off the grass, though there’s still hope he might return to training on Saturday and feature against Athletic - albeit potentially not at full fitness.

The 22-year-old local lad has been a bright spark for La Real this season, and losing him would be a proper kick in the teeth for Matarazzo’s side who are already dealing with a lengthy injury list.

Mounting injury concerns

The txuri-urdin are already facing the derby without several key players:

• Unai Marrero (injured yesterday)
• Iñaki Rupérez
• Duje Caleta-Car
• Arsen Zakharyan
• Take Kubo

Marrero’s injury has forced Matarazzo to call up Sanse goalkeeper Aitor Fraga, who’ll miss tonight’s reserve team match against Las Palmas as a result.

Reinforcements from the B team

With the squad looking thinner than a supermodel on a diet, Matarazzo continues to rely on Sanse wingers Job Ochieng and Dani Díaz, who trained with the first team and look set for their second consecutive first-team call-up. Both youngsters are hoping to get some minutes under their belt in the derby atmosphere.

Yangel return on the cards?

There was a silver lining to today’s session with Yangel Herrera participating in training. The Venezuelan midfielder has been out of action for more than three months, but his presence raises the possibility he could make a long-awaited return to the matchday squad for Sunday’s derby.

With Barrenetxea touch and go, and several other players already ruled out, Matarazzo will be hoping for some positive news from tomorrow’s final training session before heading to face their fierce rivals.