FC Barcelona travel to Granada CF in La Liga Matchday 29

Barcelona will be looking to carry on their title push in the first match after the international break.

Form

Prior to the international break, Barcelona were in mixed form. The loss away against Deportivo was sandwiched between the amazing remontada against PSG, and the convincing win against Valencia. This match is key if they want to get some momentum going because April is an important month for the team. In April, the Catalans have league games against Sevilla and Real Madrid as well as the Champions League quarter-finals against Juventus. It will be a pivotal month for their overall season.

In contrast to this, Granada are in poor form with only one win in the last five games, and three wins in the last ten games. This is reflected by their place in the league table due to them being eight points from safety, but they do have a game in hand.

Squads

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Luis Enrique has a few issues to deal with for this match. Lionel Messi is suspended due to accumulating five yellow cards over the season. However, this is an ideal match for him to be missing due to Sevilla being the next opponents. The Catalans are also without defensive stalwart Gerard Piqué due to Enrique deciding to rest him in order to avoid fatigue. Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan are both unavailable due to injury with the Turkish international picking up a leg injury during the international break. The only major absences for Granada are Mehd Carcela-González, who picked up a thigh injury during the international break, and Panagiotis Kone.

Next: Julian Draxler's comments on the remontada

History

Barça dominate the recent history of this fixture. The Catalans have won the last five consecutive fixtures, and have won nine of the last ten games. Therefore, they should be able to ease their way through this match without too many problems.

In terms of goals, there has been eighteen in the last five games, and thirty-six in the last ten, so the fixtures averages over three goals per game. However, the most recent game in October was only a 1-0 victory, but that seems to be an anomaly compared to the general trend.

Playing Style

Granada are likely to sit deep in a compact shape. In terms of attacking, they are likely to limit themselves to set-pieces as well as swift counter-attacks. In Adrián Ramos, they have the ideal striker for counter-attacking due to his ability to hold the ball up, and his sheer pace which he can use to exploit the vast space behind the Barcelona defence.

Without Messi, Barcelona will have to rely on Neymar being the chief playmaker in order to break down the Andalusians. Neymar thrives on the wing rather than in the centre, though, so Enrique will probably use Andrés Iniesta in Messi’s role. This could work well because Iniesta excels at playing in the space around the box due to his ability to work in tight spaces. Him and Neymar have shown in previous matches that they seem to have an almost telepathic connection. This will be vital in breaking down the Granada defence.

Barcelona should be able to ease their way through this match even without Messi. Granada have been poor this season, so it should be a matter of when rather than if Barça score. Luis Suárez is another key factor because if he is in top form then the Andalusians stand no chance. However, he has to be patient because chances are certain to come his way in this match. He just has to ensure he converts them because he is Barcelona’s top scorer in the absence of Messi. The Blaugrana can’t afford to slip up in a game such as this. Rafinha is also important because he is likely to get plenty of the ball. Therefore, his decision-making needs to be smart in order to work around the compact defence of the opposition.

Prediction: Granada CF 0-3 FC Barcelona

Predicted Lineup

Luis Enrique could decide to play in a 4-3-3 formation due to the absence of Lionel Messi.