FC Barcelona will be hoping to bounce back to winning run when they resume their league campaign against Villareal on Saturday after an abysmal display against Athletic Bilbao which saw their painful elimination from the Copa Del Rey quarter-final.
January 26,2024
Reigning La Liga champions faced a heartbreak loss at San Mames by a goal margin of 4 against 2 last Wednesday. While The Yellow Submarine will enter this match after their 1-1 draw with Mallorca in the league.
Barcelona’s latest run of form has not been the best as they continue to crumble in big matches on the big stage. Xavi’s team was shattered by their arch-rival Real Madrid big time when these two teams faced each other in the Spanish Super Cup final a couple of weeks ago. A first-half hat-trick from Vinicius Junior helped the Madrid side to beat Barcelona by a 4-1 scoreline.
This loss against Madrid side was then followed by a couple of good results as the Catalan giant beat Unionistas de Salamanca 3-1 in Copa Del Rey and hard fought 4-2 victory against Real Betis in the league last week.
On the other side, Villareal is searching for this first victory of 2024 as they are winless for the last four matches. While the home side’s last three league games saw 2 losses against Valencia and Las Palmas, Barcelona will be hoping to build on their 3 match-winning streak in the league.
Playing 20 games into the season Barcelona is in third position in the league table with 13 victories, 5 draws, and 2 losses accumulating 44 points. They are trailing by 8 points with league leader Girona, who plays one more game.
With 20 points from 21 games (5 wins, 5 draws, and 11 losses) Villareal is sitting in 14th position in the league table. Earlier this season, when these two sides faced each other, Xavi’s men snatched hard fought victory (4-3), each of Gavi, Frenkie De Jong, Ferran Torres, and Robert Lewandowski contributing a goal.
Team News:
Barcelona will be missing some key players through injury. Raphinha, Inigo Martinez, Marcos Alonso, Gavi, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen will once again miss Saturday’s contest with Villareal.
Apart from that, Alejandro Balde, with the injury picked up in the defeat to the Athletic club will also miss out on this crucial meeting. Despite a little blow Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen already were given the green light from the medical team.
Joao Cancelo returned to the bench on Wednesday after his recovery from a knee problem and should feature in the game against Villareal.
As for Villareal, veteran goalkeeper Pepe Reina is unavailable for selection due to suspension. Ramos Terrats, Juan Foyth, Denis Suarez, Yeremy Pino, Dani Parejo, Alfonso Pedraza, and Raul Albiol are all out for this game due to an injury problem.
Possible starting XI:
Barcelona: Inaki Pena; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi/Christensen, Cancelo; De Jong, Gundogan, Pedri; Yamal/Felix, Torres, Lewandowski
Villareal: Jogersen; Femenia, Bailly, Cuenca, Moreno; Akhomach, Comesana, Coquelin, Baena; Gerard Moreno, Sorloth
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