A look ahead to Barcelona's huge clash with Villarreal
FC Barcelona welcome Villarreal CF to the Camp Nou on Saturday evening, as they hope to maintain their lead over arch-rivals Real Madrid as the La Liga title races continues to hang in the balance. Following their quarter-finals exit at the hands of Juventus, the Blaugrana had a rare midweek break while Real of course were in action against their city rivals and on paper, Culés had previously earmarked this particular matchday as an opportunity for their club to potentially gain ground in the chase for the title.
Then again, anyone who has seen the fixture list for this upcoming weekend will know that Real Madrid travel to relegated Granada, and could easily field a team with 11 changes from midweek and still record a comfortable victory. So, this weekend is very much about keeping the pressure on and focusing on the task at hand. The title is in Real’s hands, but if we are to have any hope of retaining, then we must record victories in each of our remaining matches.
With three matches left on the schedule, Villarreal haven’t given up hope on claiming a UEFA Champions League qualification berth, but their window of opportunity is very slim indeed. Sevilla are five points clear in fourth place and that perhaps is too much for Villarreal to make up in the final few weeks, but at the same time they are just two points ahead of Real Sociedad in seventh place, and a loss of form in the final few matchdays could see Villarreal drop out of a European berth altogether.
In other words, just because the title race is dominating the headlines it doesn’t mean that there aren’t other teams in La Liga fighting for every last point they can get.
TEAM NEWS
BARCELONA
Luis Enrique has no new injury or suspension concerns to contend with and he is even able to welcome back one familiar face, Andres Iniesta, as the club captain returns after a very brief spell on the sidelines. It is expected that Iniesta will be immediately reinserted into the starting line-up alongside Ivan Rakitic, who has been in tremendous form over the past few weeks. Likewise, the same can be said of Sergio Busquets and it is the Barcelona midfield that will be crucial against Villarreal, themselves a technically gifted and capable side.
If the Blaugrana can win the midfield battle, they will be able to heap the pressure on La Liga’s second best defense, as well as starve the in-form Cedric Bakambu of chances as he looks to continue his purple patch in front of goal. In defense, I would expect Luis Enrique to stick with an orthodox four-man backline in recognition of the threat that Villarreal pose on the counter attack, and there is no reason to suggest any changes from the defense that started the Catalan derby last weekend.
Meanwhile, Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez will continue in attack and Enrique will be hoping for more of the same from Luis Suarez, who broke his drought in memorable fashion with an impressive brace.
VILLARREAL
Perhaps the best news for the Blaugrana ahead of Saturday’s clash is that the villain of January’s match, Bruno Soriano, is missing through injury. The Spanish international made headlines for all the wrong reasons with his two handballs in the area to deny Barcelona clear goalscoring opportunities in the eventual 1-1 draw – two calls that were missed by the referees. Without Bruno, Villarreal’s midfield typically finds it tougher to control possession and launch counter-attacks as efficiently as they otherwise might, a factor that Enrique’s side should look to take advantage of.
Other absentees who featured in the last match between the two teams include Victor Ruiz and Sergio Asenjo, two of the pillars of the Villarreal backline in central defense and in goal respectively. However, even in their absence the Villarreal defense has been as impressive as ever and Barcelona will face a stern test tomorrow.
FORM GUIDE
Barcelona: LWDWWW
Villarreal: WWLWWW
LAST MEETING
Villarreal CF 1-1 FC Barcelona – 8th January 2017 – La Liga
A last-minute equaliser from Lionel Messi was enough to secure a share of the points for Luis Enrique’s side, who could count themselves aggrieved by a number of strange refereeing decisions.
LIKELY LINE-UPS
Barcelona (4-3-3): ter Stegen; Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez, Neymar
Villarreal (4-2-2-2): Andres; Rukavina, Musacchio, Alvaro, Costa; dos Santos, Trigueros; Soriano, Samu; Bakambu, Sansone
MATCH PREDICTION
A repeat of last weekend; 3-0 Barcelona.
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