On Wednesday night Spanish champions Barcelona have a chance to extend their recent winning run in La Liga to three games when they host Sporting Gijon at the Nou Camp.
Barcelona have made a decent recovery from that that recent 4-0 Champions League defeat by PSG, winning both La Liga games since the European nightmare, although they have had to rely on late strikes from Lionel Messi to win those games. Last time out Luis Enrique’s side claimed a hard-fought 2-1 win at top four rivals Atletico Madrid.
The home side have a good record in La Liga, having gone 17 games unbeaten in the top-flight. At the Nou Camp, the reigning champions have been in good form in La Liga, recording four consecutive victories, scoring 14 goals in the process.
The Blaugrana also have a good record against Sporting Gijon, winning ten of the last 11 meetings with the visitors in all competitions. Enrique’s side have also been prolific in recent games against the men from Gijon, scoring three or more goals in the last four meetings between the two teams.
The visitors head to Catalonia 18th in La Liga, having won just one of their last ten games in the Spanish top-flight. In fact, a record of two wins from their last 21 La Liga games is relegation form.
However, Rubi’s side are just two points away from the safety of 17th place and Deportivo. A victory would move the visitors out of the relegation zone, but that looks like a highly unlikely result, as Gijon have won just one of their last 19 away games in the Spanish top-flight.
There may be slight hope for them, though, as that win came in Sporting’s last game on the road against Leganes. The champions are in a different league to Leganes and Sporting for that matter, so are likely to record a comfortable victory in this clash.