FC Barcelona host CA Osasuna in La Liga Matchday 34
Barcelona will be looking to keep up the pressure on Real Madrid in their pursuit of the league title with a win against Osasuna.
Form
The Catalans have been in mixed form recently, but the victory over major rivals Real Madrid is a huge boost going in to the last run of games. They haven’t lost at Camp Nou since September in all competitions, and the weakness of the opposition mean this is unlikely to change.
In comparison to their overall season, Osasuna’s recent form is great because they have picked up seven points out of their total of 18 in their last five games. However, they are still nine points from safety which shows how disastrous their season has been.
Squads
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Little has changed in squad news since the last game. Neymar still has one game left on his suspension, which means he is out for this match. Jeremy Mathieu is still recovering from his achilles injury, so he joins Aleix Vidal and Rafinha on the injury list. Aside from that, they have a strong squad with everyone from the Real Madrid match available. Osasuna are decimated by injuries currently. Didier Digard, Miguel Flaño and Tano Bonnín are all still recovering from the long-term injuries. They are also without Emmanuel Rivière, Imanol García, Unai García and Raoul Loé for this match.
Next: 3 Things We Learned: El Clásico
History
The recent history of this fixture is dominated by Barca because they have won four of the last five matches, and eight of the last ten. Osasuna won and drew the other two games in 2012 and 2013 respectively, but they were both at the Estadio El Sadar.
In terms of goals scored in this fixture, there is a wide disparity. Barcelona have scored 35 goals in the last ten games, whereas Osasuna have scored six, which reflects the Catalan superiority in this fixture.
Playing Style
The team from Pamplona seem to have lacked a clear identity this season. This is in contrast to Leganes and Alaves, who were the other promoted teams going in to this season, because they prioritised defensive solidity with the small resources they had. They have conceded the most out of anyone in the league, and are fourth from bottom in terms of goal scored. This is coupled with the fact that they are bottom of the league table, and are nine points from safety.
They have reasons to worry about this fixture because Lionel Messi in particular has an excellent record of scoring against them. He scored two against them earlier in the season, and has a total of 17 in his last nine appearances against this opposition. This game comes straight after his amazing performance in El Clásico, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he scored at least one goal.
In a game against such superior opposition, Osasuna will put up a defensive block, and hope that they either get a goal through a counter-attack or a set-piece. Even without Neymar, Barça should be able to ease through this game.
Also, being knocked out of the Champions League reduces the chance of fatigue due to fewer games in the last few weeks of the season. Therefore, Luis Enrique can afford to play a full strength team in each game to assure victory. However, given the chance, the team would probably prefer to have the problem of fixture congestion if it meant they were still in the Champions League.
Prediction: FC Barcelona 4-0 CA Osasuna
Predicted Lineup
Denis Suárez instead of Andrés Iniesta is a possibility.