After beating Real Madrid in El Clasico, La Liga leaders Barcelona are now preparing to face local rivals Espanyol in Thursday’s clash at the RCDE Stadium.
The Blaugrana will enter the game as champions if Real Madrid drop points against Mallorca on Wednesday, while they will have the chance to win it against Espanyol even if Los Blancos pick up all three points.
Match preview
Espanyol are sitting in 14th place in the standings after winning 10, drawing nine and losing 16 of their 35 La Liga matches this season.
Los Periquitos will enter Thursday’s derby clash on the back of a poor run of form, having taken just one point from their last four matches since beating Getafe 1-0 on April 18.
They played out a 1-1 draw with Valencia before they went on to lose three consecutive matches against Villarreal, Real Betis and Leganes.
Manolo Gonzalez‘s side made an attempt to fight back from three goals down in Saturday’s away clash with Leganes, but goals from Leandro Cabrera and Pere Milla ultimately arrived too late as they fell to a 3-2 defeat.
While they will be disappointed with their recent results, Espanyol are still in a strong position to avoid an immediate return to the second tier, boasting a five-point gap to the relegation zone with three games left to play against Barcelona, Osasuna and Las Palmas.
After experiencing an unsuccessful trip to Butarque, Los Periquitos will be looking forward to returning to the RCDE Stadium, where they have lost just once in their last 11 league games (W4, D6), although that sole defeat took place in their most recent home outing against Betis.
Espanyol will hope home advantage can inspire them to their first La Liga victory against Barcelona since recording a 2-1 away win in February 2009.
Barcelona are on the brink of lifting the league title after they bounced back from their dramatic Champions League semi-final defeat against Inter Milan to claim a memorable 4-3 victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid in Sunday’s clash at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
The Blaugrana fought back from two goals following Kylian Mbappe‘s early brace, with Eric Garcia and Lamine Yamal finding the net before Raphinha went on to score two goals of his own to give Barcelona a stunning 4-2 lead at the break.
Mbappe wrapped up his hat-trick in the second period to reduce the deficit to one, before Fermin Lopez saw his effort ruled out following a VAR review, ensuring Barcelona had to be content with a 4-3 scoreline, leaving them on the brink of adding the league title to the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup they have already won in Hansi Flick‘s first season in charge.
Having established a seven-point lead at the top of the table, Barcelona could clinch a 28th La Liga title on Wednesday if Real Madrid drop points against Mallorca, but if Los Blancos win, the Blaugrana will have to beat Espanyol if they are to become champions on matchday 36.
While the title is the ultimate objective, Barcelona will also be keen to reach a century of La Liga goals before the end of the season, having racked up 95 goals in 35 league matches this term.
They will be confident about taking maximum points from Thursday’s fixture, having won 14 of their previous 15 La Liga matches and each of their last five away league games.
They also avoided defeat in each of their last 27 La Liga derbies with Espanyol (D7, L20), including a 3-1 victory in November’s reverse fixture when Dani Olmo scored a brace alongside a Raphinha effort inside the opening 31 minutes.
Team News
Espanyol remain without the services of defender Brian Olivan, who has been sidelined since the end of March due to a calf problem.
Pol Lozano sat out the narrow loss to Leganes with a quad injury, but he has now returned to training and is in contention to start against Barcelona.
Right-back Omar El Hilali is in line for a recall after serving a one-match ban for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Javi Puado will continue to offer one of Espanyol’s main attacking threats, having scored 11 goals and provided three assists in 32 La Liga appearances this season.
Meanwhile, Barcelona remain without the services of long-term absentee Marc Bernal, who is working on his rehabilitation from a long-term knee injury.
Defender Jules Kounde and forward Pablo Torre are unlikely to be involved as they continue to recover from hamstring and knee problems respectively.
Inigo Martinez is suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards, opening the door for either Ronald Araujo or Andreas Christensen to start, and the latter could get the nod after impressing in his substitute appearance in El Clasico.
Alejandro Balde is pushing for a starting berth after coming off the bench to play over half an hour against Real Madrid, but Barcelona are unlikely to risk Robert Lewandowski from the start following his recent struggles with a hamstring issue.
Espanyol possible starting lineup:
Garcia; El Hilali, Kumbulla, Cabrera, Romero; Exposito, Gonzalez, Lozano; Jofre, Puado, Roberto
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Garcia, Christensen, Cubarsi, Balde; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Torres
We say: Espanyol 1-3 Barcelona
Barcelona usually fare well when they face their local rivals, and after winning 14 of their last 15 league matches, we believe the confident visitors will showcase their firepower once again to claim a commanding victory in Thursday’s derby clash.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
