A preview of Barcelona's La Liga clash with Celta Vigo, as the home side will look to exact revenge for their humbling defeat at Balaidos earlier in the season
FC Barcelona will be looking to extend their club record unbeaten streak to 30 matches tomorrow when they host Celta Vigo at the Camp Nou, in what could easily be seen as a chance for the Blaugrana to secure vengeance over Luis Enrique’s former club. Earlier in the season, Celta opened an old-fashioned can of whoop-ass on the reigning Spanish and European champions, humbling them in grand fashion with a stunning 4-1 win at the Estadio Balaidos; while Barca have since bounced back quite emphatically, they will surely relish the chance to exact revenge if they can.
Without a doubt, the tables have turned since the first meeting between the two sides; while Celta climbed above Barcelona with that thrashing in September, they are currently in something of a freefall. A terrible turn of form has seen then slip out of the top six, having claimed just four points in their previous seven matches. Sure, they still have the talent to cause us trouble, but there is far less reason to fear this fixture than there would have been a few short months ago.
Parallels can perhaps be drawn to our Copa del Rey semi-final clash with Valencia CF; earlier in the season they caused us problems – but out-of-form and low on confidence, Celta will stumble into the Camp Nou tomorrow evening, just as Valencia did 10 days ago. A daunting prospect for any team, let alone a team that’s struggling for form.
Away from home, Celta have won just one in their last six, and that was against relegation-threatened Granada CF; I’m not trying to denigrate Eduardo Berizzo’s side, far from it – I’m just trying to allay any fears that some of the more pessimistic Cules might have ahead of this one. Sure, Celta are a good side but we still got this.
TEAM NEWS
BARCELONA
The main news ahead of kick-off is that Lionel Messi is back; he’s had a few days off to recuperate after some issues with his kidneys and while it’s unlikely that he is feeling 100%, he’s well enough to feature once again and that’s going to be a huge boost for this Barcelona team. Any time you can welcome a five-time Ballon d’Or winner back into the fold is a good time, and Luis Enrique has been handed a further boost with the return to fitness of Arda Turan.
The Turkish international midfielder missed the midweek match against Valencia with a foot injury, but speaking in his pre-match press conference today, Enrique all but confirmed that Arda would return to the squad.
The exact details of the 18-man squad for tomorrow’s match will be released and confirmed tomorrow morning, but in general the media are expecting very few changes from the usual "Gala XI". Claudio Bravo will start in goal, looking to maintain his side’s impressive defensive record at home which ranks amongst the best in the division, and he will be aided in that quest by Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba, two sure-fire starters in the backline.
The other two spots are somewhat up for grabs, as Dani Alves could easily be displaced by Aleix Vidal, while Javier Mascherano faces competition on three fronts from Thomas Vermaelen, Jeremy Mathieu and Marc Bartra. My intuition tells me that Vidal and Mascherano will get the starts, although I could easily be wrong.
Sergio Busquets will start for the first time in three matches, and in returning he will likely provide the Blaugrana with the fluidity and creativity that they have been somewhat lacking in their previous two matches. While we defeated Levante last weekend, it was a laboured display, particularly from our star-studded attacking line who were devoid of any consistent service – and particularly lazy in seeking it out with their unusually muted movements. Busquets’ return should ease the pressure on the rest of the midfield, and provide much-needed stability and composure in the face of Celta’s high-line of pressure.
Ahead of Busquets, Andres Iniesta will captain the side and I suspect that he may be joined in midfield by Ivan Rakitic, if only because he was subbed at the end of the draw with Valencia while Roberto played the full 90 minutes. With Arda coming back from a knock, it makes sense to suggest that he doesn’t start – while the MSN trident will lead the line in attack, no doubt looking to close the gap on the top-scoring triumvirate in Spain: Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo.
CELTA VIGO
Nolito remains sidelined through injury, which is bad enough – but the problems don’t end there for Eduardo Berizzo; Andreu Fontas, Sergi Gomez and Fabian Orellana are also set to miss out and that leaves the Argentine coach without four of his regular starters. In spite of this we can be sure that Celta’s general style of play will remain unchanged; they like to press high up the field, retain possession and attack with speed down either flank. In Iago Aspas, they have an accomplished striker to lead the line, but the worry will be that they lack the defensive capabilities to stunt the MSN trident and secure a share of the spoils.
FORM GUIDE
Barcelona: WWWWWD
Celta: LWLLDD
LAST MEETING
Celta Vigo 4-1 FC Barcelona – 23rd September 2015 – La Liga
Two goals from Iago Aspas sandwiched in between strikes from Nolito and John Guidetti secured a memorable win for the Galicians, who against all the odds, humbled Luis Enrique’s side to move ahead of the Blaugrana in the standings.
LIKELY LINE-UPS
Barcelona (4-3-3): Bravo; Vidal, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez, Neymar
Celta (4-3-3): Ruben; Mallo, Cabral, Planas, Castro; Radoja, Hernandez, Diaz; Aspas, Guidetti, Wass
MATCH PREDICTION
There’s no place like home: 3-1 Barcelona.
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