Match Details:
Barcelona vs. Granada
29th April at 10:30 PM
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona.
Match Preview:
It is game week 33 and in this league fixture, the 3rd placed team on the table, Barcelona take on the 8th placed team, Granada. In their previous respective competitive fixtures, Barcelona beat Villarreal 1-2 away, while Granada lost 2-1 away to Sevilla in La Liga. Atlético surprisingly lost their last crucial match against Bilbao, which has blown the La Liga title race wide open. Fourth-placed Sevilla and leaders Atlético are just separated by three points and apart from these two teams, second-placed Real Madrid and third-placed Barcelona are equally poised for a shot at the title. Barcelona however find themselves in a slightly advantageous position than the other three since they have played one game less than them. Ergo, if they keep on winning all their games till the last day, they will become champions. They have one game against the Atlético though, and should ideally aim at winning all their matches before they meet them in what would be similar to a playoff final game for the title. Granada lost yet again in their last match against Sevilla, their third loss in five league games. Dropping points meant that the gap between them and playing European football next season is now seven points. With six games to go, they have no choice but to put in some consistent performances and aim at finishing only at a European place. Else all good work put in the current season will not account for much.
Key Stats & Info:
- Barcelona have won their last 7 home matches against Granada in all competitions.
- Barcelona have scored at least 2 goals in 13 of their last 16 La Liga matches.
- Granada have conceded at least 2 goals in 9 of their last 10 away matches in the La Liga.
Expected XI:
Barcelona:
Ter Stegen (GK), Pique, Mingueza, Lenglet, Dest, De Jong, Busquets, Pedri, Alba, Griezmann, Messi
Granada:
Escandell (GK), Pérez, Díaz, Sánchez, Foulquier, Herrera, Gonalons, Molina, Kennedy, Puertas, Soldado
Key Players:
Messi (Barcelona): Arguably the greatest footballer ever to have played the beautiful game, Argentine international winger Lionel Messi is a record 6-time Balon D’Or winner, and has scored an incredible 667 goals for Barcelona in 773 appearances across all competitions, and provided a staggering 292 assists. He had a brilliant 19-20 season in front of goal was top scorer for Barcelona with 31 goals and 26 assists in all competitions across 44 games, and has scored 33 goals and provided 14 assists in 42 games across all competitions in the current season. In his last match against Villarreal, he had 1 shot on target from 3 attempted shots, 69 touches of the ball, and had a passing accuracy of 90% giving 43 accurate passes. He is a legend of modern-day football and influences every match that he plays in.
Griezmann (Barcelona): French international attacker Antoine Griezmann joined Barcelona from fellow La Liga side Atletico Madrid in 2019 and has since played 93 games for Barcelona in all competitions, scoring 33 goals and providing 15 assists. He had a good 19-20 season, scoring 15 goals and providing 4 assists in 48 games across all competitions, and has scored 18 goals and provided 11 assists in 45 games across all competitions in the current season. He had an excellent outing in his last match against Villarreal, where he scored 2 goals and earned a crucial win for his side. In this match, he played for 80 minutes and had 32 touches of the ball, 3 shots on target from 5 attempts on goal, gave 2 key passes, and had a passing accuracy of 82% giving 18 accurate passes. The French World Cup winner is in decent form this season and is expected to influence the next game.
Soldado (Granada): Spanish forward Roberto Soldado joined Granada in 2019 from Turkish side Fenerbahçe, and has since made 79 appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring 25 goals and giving 9 assists. He had a good 19-20 season, scoring 11 goals and giving 7 assists in 39 games across all competitions, and is the club’s top scorer this season with 14 goals and 2 assists in 40 games across all competitions. He had a good personal outing in his last game against Sevilla, where he scored 1 goal, but couldn’t prevent his side’s defeat. In this game, he played for 22 minutes and had 1 shot on target from 2 attempts on goal, 12 touches of the ball, and a passing accuracy of 71% completing 5 passes. This veteran striker is in good form and is expected to help the club finish strongly on the league table at the end of the season.
Captain & vice-captain picks
- Messi (Barcelona)
- Griezmann (Barcelona)
- De Jong (Barcelona)
- Soldado (Granada)
- Molina (Granada)
Source for Stats:
https://www.transfermarkt.co.in/
https://www.whoscored.com/
https://int.soccerway.com/
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are of the author and is not a reflection of the actual points you might earn