Barça play their final match of the season without Lionel Messi, needing a point to clinch third place. Typing that made me sad.
SD Eibar (20th, 30pts) vs FC Barcelona (3rd, 76pts)
Competition/Round: 2020-21 La Liga, Matchday 38
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Lionel Messi, Pedri, Marc-André ter Stegen, Clément Lenglet, Sergi Roberto, Ansu Fati, Philippe Coutinho (out)
Eibar Outs & Doubts: None
Date/Time: Saturday, May 22, 2021, 6pm CET (Barcelona), 5pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 12pm ET, 9am PT (USA), 9.30pm IST (India)
Venue: Ipurua Municipal Stadium, Eibar, Spain
Referee: Santiago Jaime Latre
VAR: Mario Melero López
How to watch on TV: Not Available (USA, Canada, India), LaLigaTV (UK), Movistar LaLiga (Spain), others
How to stream: FuboTV (USA), Premier Player (UK), Facebook Live (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Following another brutal loss at home to Celta Vigo to mathematically end their title chances, Barcelona travel to the Basque Country to face relegated Eibar in the final match of the La Liga season.
This has been a week full of criticism and questions about the entire team and manager Ronald Koeman, and based on quotes by Joan Laporta this week we might be in for a summer of deep transformation at Barcelona from the playing squad to the man in charge.
After a terrible start to the season, going into the final game in position to clinch third place doesn’t sound so bad in what was supposed to be a transition season, but Barça put themselves in position to actually win the league less than a month ago and then threw it away in spectacularly depressing fashion. And that hurts.
Now they face an almost meaningless game against the worst team in the league, and because of their head-to-head record against Sevilla Barça only need a point to clinch third place — which is actually important because of prize money. That afforded the club to give Lionel Messi and Pedri an early holiday, and Messi’s absence makes this an especially sad game for a couple reasons: we might have already seen Leo’s last match for Barça, and we won’t have a chance to see him destroy Eibar which has been one of his favorite pastimes.
Koeman is unlikely to rotate so we probably won’t get a chance to watch the likes of Francisco Trincão and Miralem Pjanic, which would have been some attraction for this. But hey, we’re Barça fans — in happy and sad times. I know I’m watching this one and rooting for my team to win — while also hoping Atlético Madrid clinch the title so my weekend isn’t TOTALLY ruined by You Know Who.
Let’s dance, I guess?
Man, what a depressing preview.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (3-5-2): Neto; Araujo, Piqué, Umtiti; Dest, De Jong, Busquets, Puig, Alba; Dembélé, Griezmann
Eibar (4-4-2): Dmitrovic; Correa, Oliveira, Arbilla, Ángel; Gil, Diop, Atienza, Expósito; García, Enrich
PREDICTION
We’ll definitely get at least a point so all I really care about is seeing Riqui Puig starting and shining: 3-1 Barça.
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