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FC Barcelona travel to Deportivo La Coruña in La Liga Matchday 27

By Benjamin Barkworth

Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates a goal during the Spanish league football match FC Barcelona vs RC Deportivo de la Coruna at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on October 15, 2016 / AFP / LLUIS GENE (Photo credit should read LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images)
Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates a goal during the Spanish league football match FC Barcelona vs RC Deportivo de la Coruna at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on October 15, 2016 / AFP / LLUIS GENE (Photo credit should read LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images) /
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After the incredible midweek Champions League game against PSG, its back to usual for the Catalans.

Form

Barcelona are in great form going in to this match. The 4-0 loss in Paris and the struggle against Leganés led to a formation change, which has rejuvenated them. Since then they have scored nineteen goals in four games, which includes the games against PSG and Atlético Madrid, but have only conceded three goals. In contrast to this, Deportivo have only won of their last five games. They have only picked up a total of five points from those five games. In that period, they have conceded seven, and only scored four.

Squads

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Luis Enrique is without the Brazilian duo of Neymar and Rafinha for this match. Neymar is suffering from pain in his abductor muscle, and Rafinha has gastroenteritis. Jérémy Mathieu and Aleix Vidal are both out as well. This means that Barcelona B player Carles Aleñá has been called up to the matchday squad. Pepe Mel has a few issues to deal with as well. He is unable to pick Florin Andone and Pedro Mosquera due to suspension. The Galicians are also missing Guilherme and Marlos Moreno due to injury. Gaël Kakuta has returned from injury, though, which is a boost for them.

Next: Barcelona's Head Coach Search

History

Recent history favours Barcelona in this fixture. The Blaugrana have won three of the last five games, and seven of the last ten. They haven’t lost any of those games either. In the last five games, the aggregate score is 20-4, so expect a lot of goals. The last time Deportivo won in this fixture was all the way back in 2008.

BARCELONA, SPAIN – MARCH 08: Arda Turan of Barcelona in action during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg match between FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain at Camp Nou on March 8, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – MARCH 08: Arda Turan of Barcelona in action during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg match between FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain at Camp Nou on March 8, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images) /

Playing Style

The Galicians are likely to sit deep and play in a compact shape to limit the space. They are helped by the absence of Neymar, which limits the attacking threat of the left side. However, Barcelona still have Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Andrés Iniesta. Lionel Messi is likely to take up the role of chief creator with Arda Turan playing on the left-wing instead of Neymar. In the new formation, Barcelona are able to dominate play in the opposition half. They hunt the ball in packs when out of possession, and the high defensive line limits the space for the opposition.

In the match against PSG, the potential of the 3-3-1-3 formation was shown. The talented Parisians spent the majority of the match in their own third due to the sheer amount of movement they had to deal with. Against Deportivo, the Catalans are unlikely to play with such a high tempo because they should be able to break down the opposition without it. Branquiazuis will have to rely on swift counter-attacks as their main attacking threat.

Prediction: Deportivo La Coruña 1-4 FC Barcelona

Predicted Lineup

Paco Alcácer and Ivan Rakitić could both start depending on how much rotation Luis Enrique does.