Barça vs Espanyol: LIVE BLOG!

Join us to follow and comment a huge Catalan Derby at Camp Nou!

WELCOME TO CAMP NOU!!! The Greatest Stadium on Earth is the home of a giant Catalan Derby between Barcelona and Espanyol in what promises to be a very tough La Liga match for the champions. Barça are 10 points clear of Atlético Madrid and the title seems to be getting closer, but we can’t afford to slip up in any game. This will be difficult and Espanyol are always super annoying to play against, especially at Camp Nou, so we need a really good performance. And you can join us to follow and comment all the action. LET’S LIVE BLOG!

(Note: the comments will be open only when the team news come out, because our commenter people love commenting and sometimes there are too many comments in the comments section)

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MATCH INFO

Competition/Round: 2018-19 La Liga, Matchday 29

Date/Time: Saturday, March 30, 2019, 4.15pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 3.15pm GMT (UK), 11.15am ET, 8.15am PT (USA), 8.45pm IST (India)

Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande

HOW TO WATCH, STREAM LA LIGA

How to watch on TV: beIN SPORTS (USA, Canada, Spain), SuperSport 7 (Nigeria), SONY TEN 2 (India), others

How to stream: beIN SPORTS CONNECT (USA, Canada, Spain), others

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Matchday Thread Rules

We don’t have a lot of rules here, but there are a few things to keep in mind when joining our matchday threads:

Even if the referee sucks or we lose the game, no swearing. It’s just unnecessary. Also, don’t discuss illegal streaming links. Those who do it will be warned, and those who post links will be instantly banned. Finally, be nice to each other. This is a Barcelona community and we don’t need to offend one another.

Have fun with the game! Forever and ever, no matter the competition, VISCA EL BARÇA!

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Barça squad named for Espanyol

Ernesto Valverde has called up 18 players for Saturday’s Catalan Derby

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana are back after the international game with a big Catalan Derby against Espanyol in La Liga, and Ernesto Valverde has called up the following 18 players to be in uniform on Saturday:

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Goalkeepers: 1. Marc-André ter Stegen, 30. Iñaki Peña

Defenders: 2. Nélson Semedo, 3. Gerard Piqué, 15. Clément Lenglet, 18. Jordi Alba, 23. Samuel Umtiti

Midfielders: 4. Ivan Rakitic, 5. Sergio Busquets, 7. Philippe Coutinho, 8. Arthur, 20. Sergi Roberto, 21. Carles Aleñá, 22. Arturo Vidal

Forwards: 9. Luis Suárez, 10. Lionel Messi, 14. Malcom, 19. Kevin-Prince Boateng

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The international break brought some good news and bad news for Valverde: Luis Suárez used the two weeks off to recover from the ankle injury suffered against Real Betis, and is back in the squad; but Cillessen hurt his hip while playing for the Netherlands and is out indefinitely, which means Barça B keeper Iñaki Peña will be Ter Stegen’s backup. Also missing the Espanyol game through injury are Ousmane Dembélé (hamstring) and Rafinha (knee), while Jean-Clair Todibo, Jeison Murillo and Thomas Vermaelen are out per the manager’s decision.

Predicted starting XI (4-3-3):

Ter Stegen; Roberto, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Arthur; Messi, Suárez, Coutinho

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The match kicks off at 4.15pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 3.15pm GMT (UK), 11.15am ET, 8.15am PT (USA), 8.45pm IST (India), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action with our live blog.

VISCA EL BARÇA!

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Barça vs Espanyol: Preview

The champions face a very difficult local Derby at home, but a win would get them even closer to the title

FC Barcelona (1st, 66pts) vs RCD Espanyol (13th, 34pts)*

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*Points and positions at the time of writing on Friday

Competition/Round: 2018-19 La Liga, Matchday 29

Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Ousmane Dembélé, Jasper Cillessen, Rafinha, Jeison Murillo, Jean-Clair Todibo, Thomas Vermaelen (out)

Espanyol Outs & Doubts: Sergi Darder, Facundo Ferreyra, Javi Puado (out)

Date/Time: Saturday, March 30, 2019, 4.15pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 3.15pm GMT (UK), 11.15am ET, 8.15am PT (USA), 8.45pm IST (India)

Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande

How to watch on TV: beIN SPORTS (USA, Canada, Spain), SuperSport 7 (Nigeria), SONY TEN 2 (India), others

How to stream: beIN SPORTS CONNECT (USA, Canada, Spain), others

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After the last international break of the 2018-19 season, Barcelona return to action and start the home stretch of the campaign with a huge Catalan Derby against Espanyol at Camp Nou. Before the break, Barça had a dream weekend with a dominant win away to Real Betis combined with Atlético Madrid losing at Athletic Bilbao, which gave the Blaugrana a 10-point lead with 10 matches to go in La Liga.

The title is very much in Barça’s hands, and this week can pretty much clinch the championship: after the Espanyol game, Barça travel to Villarreal and play Atlético Madrid at the Greatest Stadium on Earth. If Barça win all three games, they’ll be at least 13 points clear at the top of the table with seven games to go and a very favorable schedule the rest of the way, which would give the team a chance to focus solely on Manchester United, and then (most likely) Liverpool in the Champions League.

To put it simply, the Espanyol game starts a three-game week that will win Barça La Liga if they get nine points. The first hurdle is a tough one to jump since Espanyol lost 4-0 to Barça at home earlier this season and are hungry for revenge, which means they’ll be extremely physical and borderline violent at times. It’s the only way they know how to win against Barça, and there’s no doubt they’ll try again.

The champs need to be focused and careful. A win is big, but staying healthy is also important. But they love to beat Espanyol themselves, and they know how big this week is. This should be a great game.

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POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Roberto, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Arthur; Messi, Suárez, Coutinho

Espanyol (4-4-2): López; Rosales, Naldo, Hermoso, Dídac; Melendo, Sánchez, Granero, Roca; Iglesias, Wu Lei

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PREDICTION

Sometimes, and it’s very few times, beating Espanyol feels better than winning El Clásico for me. This is one of those times, since the win means a lot for the title race and they’ll come to Camp Nou looking for revenge. Let’s give them another reason to be angry and sad: 4-1 Barça.

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Ighalo turned down Barca loan move because ‘I deserve better’

The striker didn’t fancy being a back-up at the Camp Nou

Odion Ighalo says he was offered the chance to join Barcelona in the January transfer window but turned it down because he “deserves better”.

The Nigeria international moved to Changchun Yatai from Watford in 2017 and then signed for Shanghai Shenhua in February.

However, he could have been playing at the Camp Nou for the rest of the season but didn’t fancy playing back-up to Luis Suarez.

“My agent spoke to me about a loan interest from Barcelona. The club wanted a striker with La Liga experience and someone who understands Spanish football,” he said.

”It was meant to be a six-month loan and strictly as a back-up striker. It was nice to hear that Barcelona were interested and any footballer would be more than happy to take it.

”But with due respect I had just finished as the second top scorer in China with 21 goals, I deserve better and didn’t want to be a short-term player somewhere.

”We rejected it, it was an easy decision to make and I chose to stay in China by joining Shanghai Shenhua on a longer contract,” Ighalo added.

Source | BBC Sport

Barcelona ended up signing Kevin-Prince Boateng on loan from Sassuolo, although the deal hasn’t really worked out too well. Boateng’s only made two starts and has frequently struggled to even make the squad.

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Valverde talks Messi, Suarez and Dembele ahead of Espanyol

The latest from the Barcelona boss

Ernesto Valverde was back before the press on Friday talking about all things Barcelona ahead of Saturday’s La Liga clash with Espanyol.

Much of the talk revolved around injuries, in particular Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele.

Here are the best bits:

Valverde on Messi

We think [he’s 100 per cent]. Leo has had these niggles for a while and we are taking care of that. Before Christmas he had these problems and we have been working with him to resolve them.

The process with the national team is the same. Now he is back and he feels better for the coming games. Leo was spectacular before the international break, then he went away and got injured, it’s just a circumstance.

We’re managing this in a natural way. I was talking to him before as he had a little problem in training but we’re all connected, the physios and the players to find out how players are.

Valverde on Luis Suarez

He’s good, we’re taking precautions with him as there is a risk of a little scare. He could suffer another knock, but the break has been good for him.

Valverde on Ousmane Dembele

I don’t know if he will be back next week, we will try to be careful with his injury.

Valverde on Espanyol

We’re aware that it’s a derby, which is very motivating for us and for them. After this break is the decisive part of the season and we have three games this week.

We know what we’re up against. Each match has a lot of importance and there’s less time to recover.

Valverde on Pique’s Espanyol comments

I haven’t seen it, but it’s inevitable to hear about it. There isn’t a lot to comment about, he was on a comedy show, about humour, so it was a bit more light-hearted and that’s okay.

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Messi slams Argentina critics, talks injury and Ronaldo

The Barcelona captain has had his say

Lionel Messi has given a pretty revealing interview to Argentine radio show Club Octubre 94.7 FM where he’s talked about a range of topics.

The Barcelona captain has hit back at the media for the way he’s been treated while playing for Argentina, spoke about Cristiano Ronaldo and his current injury situation.

Messi on Argentina critics

It’s crazy that people say my father managers the national team. They also say that he has the power in the Argentine FA. My family suffers as a result of this.

I have friends and family that suffer as a result of the lies told. Anybody can say anything, people buy into this and then I’m the bad guy.

A lot of people were saying that I shouldn’t come back and my son even asked me why they crucify me in Argentina.

Messi on injury

It became customary for people to say things about me, inventing… The truth is that I’ve had pain in my pubic area from before the December break and I would train a little, not play all of the matches.

Messi on Ronaldo

Today, Neymar, Mbappe, Suarez, Aguero Today, they can be the best in the world. Cristiano, I take him out an put him with me, a part. I swear to you, I am being honest.

I miss Cristiano in Spain. It was nice to have him although it was difficult to see him left titles. It would have been nice to still have him here.

There’s loads more too, a full translation is available at the good people at Mundo Albiceleste.

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Pique says Messi is one of the biggest trolls he knows

Gerard Pique has come out in praise of Lionel Messi’s humor. The Barcelona duo have been team-mates for a while now and apparently Messi is a pretty big troll. The big stars that are quiet are always the ones to watch out for. Former NBA star Tim Duncan was notoriously quiet, and yet a troll.

Messi has very ironic humour, he’s one of the biggest trolls [I know].

Gerard Pique | Source

I look forward to years from now when perhaps we’ll get some great Messi troll stories from former team-mates.

This isn’t related to Pique’s Messi quotes at all, but at the end of this interview, he decided to throw some amazing shade at Espanyol.

“I have more money than the budget of Espanyol this year”.

Just a few days ahead of their Catalan derby this is one of the better quotes I’ve heard.

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