There is a full round of La Liga fixtures to enjoy this week and the action begins on Tuesday with an intriguing game from the top half of the table as Celta Vigo host Barcelona.
Celta Vigo come into this game in 9th place and still have a chance of qualifying for the Europa League, a tournament in which they reached the semi-final last season. However, with so many teams grouped together in the middle of the league, Celta Vigo could still finish as low down as 15th this season.
Barcelona have already claimed one moment of history this season as they move passed Real Sociedad’s record for the most matches without defeat in La Liga. Following their shock exit at the hands of Roma in the Champions League, all the focus is on winning La Liga and the Copa del Rey.
Celta Vigo come into this match having lost 1-0 at Leganes on the weekend. This was a disappointing result for Juan Carlos Unzue and his players and means they have won one of their last five games in La Liga.
However, home form has been very good and trends show Celta Vigo have remained undefeated in their last eight home games in all competitions. Most recently, Celta Vigo defeated Sevilla 4-0 on home soil and they have also held both Barcelona and Real Madrid to draws in the Copa del Rey and La Liga respectively.
Barcelona make the trip to the Estadio de Balaídos having secured a narrow 2-1 home win over Valencia on the weekend. The defeat to Roma really hurt Barcelona and it was vital they bounced back immediately with a positive result.
Having broken Real Sociedad’s unbeaten record, trends show Barcelona are now thirty-nine matches undefeated in La Liga and they will be hoping to extend that run with a win in this game. They have not lost any of their last nineteen away league matches and have only once failed to score a goal in a La Liga match this season.
Despite remaining unbeaten in La Liga this season, Barcelona have bene struggling to win recent games on the road and have been held to three draws in their last five away league games. Espanyol, Las Palmas and Sevilla have all taken a point off Barcelona at home and this will give some encouragement to Celta Vigo.
Team news and Celta Vigo will be without the suspended duo of Novegil Hugo Mallo and Pablo Hernandez. Robert Mazan is back in training following a thigh injury and could come into contention for this game.
Barcelona have the Copa del Rey final to look forward to on the weekend and Ernesto Valverde may rotate some of his players with that in mind. Ousmane Dembele, Denis Suarez, Nelson Semedo, Paco Alcacer, Andre Gomes and Thomas Vermaelen could all come into the starting XI.
If Valverde does make changes, this could leave the door open for Celta Vigo and having already held Real Madrid and Barcelona at home this season, we could see the points shared.