Sitting 4th on the La Liga table, Barcelona will look for a win over Deportivo La Coruna as they attempt to keep pace with the Madrid clubs at the top and Sevilla in 3rd spot.
It has been far from a breezy start to the La Liga campaign for Barcelona who have struggled to establish a measure of consistency that has become definitive of their title-winning seasons. However, that can largely be attributed to the growing competition in the Spanish top-flight with the likes of Atletico, Real, Sevilla, Villarreal, etc performing at par with the big guns.
With two losses and a draw to go with their 4 victories, the Bluagrana are placed fourth in the table while Deportivo La Coruna sit in 13th spot with two wins, two draws and three losses. Barcelona will be keen to erase memories of their surprise 3-4 loss to Celta Vigo before the international break and get their title defence back on track. While the Camp Nou hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Deportivo, their exploits there last season suggest it would be naive of Barcelona to undermine their Catalan neighbours.
Team News and Tactics
FC Barcelona
All eyes will be looking out for one man when the sides make their way on to the hallowed turf at the Camp Nou on Saturday – Lionel Messi. The Argentine has been absent for three weeks due to a groin injury and is expected to make his return against Deportivo as the La Liga champions bid to get their campaign back on track. Barcelona certainly haven’t enjoyed the best of games returning from the international break in the past, with often lethargic performances doing the Blaugrana little good.
Deportivo Alaves were the benefactors of a lacklustre performance from Barcelona in September when they shocked the hosts 2-1 in their own back-yard to take their first win on their return to the Spanish top-flight. Enrique will leave no stone unturned to avoid such a mishap on Saturday. With Messi back in the mix, Barcelona’s front line is more or less sorted with Luis Suarez and Neymar partnering the Argentine. It’s in defence where all the questions lie for Barcelona owing to the injuries to Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba.
While Alba’s injury could signal game-time for Lucas Digne, who has been impressive in his early run-outs for the Catalans, Enrique will be pondering whether to offer Aleix Vidal another chance at right-back to replace Roberto. Vidal has been far from impressive for the La Liga Champions proving to be a massive downgrade on the legendary Dani Alves.
Gerard Pique has endured a turbulent couple of weeks during the international break and will be keen to bring the attention back to football following reports surrounding his future with the Spanish national team. Javier Mascherano returned late from his international duties with Argentina and could be rested in favour of the Jeremy Mathieu or Samuel Umtiti. The latter returns from an injury and while he could be a decent shout-out for the game on Saturday, Enrique is unlikely to risk the 22-year-old and could opt for his fellow country-man instead.
After a horrifying show against Celta Vigo prior to the international break, Marc Andre ter Stegen will go under the microscope at the Camp Nou on saturday. The German is most certainly expected to start due to an injury to Jasper Cillesen and will certainly look to make amends for his poor performance last time around.
Possible Starting XI (4-3-3): ter Stegen, Vidal, Pique, Mathieu, Digne; Iniesta, Busquets, Gomes; Messi, Suarez, Neymar
Deportivo La Coruna
Deportivo may have managed to come away with an unlikely draw against Barcelona the last time they visited the Camp Nou, but a lot has changed since for Gaizka Garitano’s men. They were at the receiving end of an 8-0 thrashing from Barcelona in their own back-yard in April and with their leading goal-scorer Lucas Perez’s move to Arsenal, the Catalan side have struggled for goals. While they have been relatively solid at the back, the forward line has been left starved off goals as they have a paltry 5 strikes to their name in 7 games so far while Barcelona have 22.
Summer recruit Ryan Babel scored the winner for Deportivo against Sporting Gijon in a 2-1 victory but it’s highly unlikely the former Liverpool winger would be able to have a similar impact against the Blaugrana on Saturday. Romanian striker Florin Andone is yet to open his account for the season and he along with Depor’s top scorer Celso Borges have to come good if Garitano’s men have any chances of coming away with atleast a point from the Camp Nou.
Deportivo are expected to continue with their 4-2-3-1 formation with Fayçal Fajr, Bruno Gama and Babel lining up behind Andone. Borges has been good going forward for Depor and he is expected to line-up alongside Pedro Mosquera, who’ll play the role of the holding midfielder. The back-four are expected to keep their places from their outing against Gijon with German Lux expected to feature in-goal.
Possible Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Lux; Laure, Sidnei, Albentosa, Navarro; Mosquera, Borges; Gama, Fajr, Babel; Andone.
Key Stats
- Luis Suarez netted four past Lux in Barcelona’s 8-0 mauling of Deportivo back in April.
- Three of the last five games between the two at the Camp Nou have seen the teams share the spoils.
- This fixture has seen a lot of goals in the past with as many as 31 goals coming in the last 6 encounters between the two sides.
- The last time Deportivo emerged victorious over Barcelona was back in 2008 when the Branquiazuis notched a famous 2-0 victory at home at the Estadio Riazor. Their last victory at the Camp Nou came all the way back in 2003.
Players to watch out for
FC Barcelona: Lionel Messi
With a draw and a loss in his absence, Barcelona have sorely missed their immensely talented Argentine, hence it’s no surprise that The Hard Tackle have marked him as the man to watch out for on Saturday when the Blaugrana look to set the pace once more for a title challenge and catch-up with their rivals.
Prediction
FC Barcelona 5-0 Deportivo La Coruna
The stats are damning in Barcelona’s favour for this fixture and they will be tipped to do away with their ‘curse’ and actually go ahead and win in the first match after the international break. With Neymar, Suarez and Messi in that front-line, even a decently solid back-line is bound to cave-in and the absence of Lucas Perez in their ranks will hurt Depor’s chances of taking anything away from the La Liga Champions this time around.
