At a glance
- FC Barcelona take on Osasuna away on Saturday at 9PM local time.
- The Catalans can become champions this weekend by winning in El Sadar and hoping Espanyol beat Real Madrid for them.
- FC Barcelona Expected Line Up: Joan Garcia; Eric, Cubarsi, Cancelo; Pedri, Gavi, Olmo; Roony, Fermin; Ferran
FC Barcelona can become La Liga champions this weekend. That’s providing they beat Osasuna on Saturday, though and crosstown rivals Espanyol see off eternal nemesis Real Madrid 24 hours later.
The Blaugrana currently top La Liga by 11 points. If results go their way, they can head to the streets of the Catalan capital to party with Culers on Monday.
Doing that also grants revenge in El Sadar. In their last visit there, in September 2024, Barca lost 4-2 to the home side.
They were without either Lamine Yamal or Raphinha starting, however, and that’ll be the case this time too. While Lamine is out injured for the rest of the season with a hamstring knock, Raphinha’s recovery from the same niggle means he will at least make the bench.
Because of this, Roony Bardghji is on the right wing and Fermin Lopez on the left in favour of a Marcus Rashford whose future is unclear.
Scoring against Getafe, midfielder Fermin is preferred there meaning Dani Olmo has no competition for the ’10’ CAM slot.
Gavi‘s renaissance continues by the side of Pedri, and up front its Ferran instead of Robert Lewandowski as the target man.
The defence almost looks the same in Barcelona Vs. Osasuna
In goal, its Joan Garcia looking to keep 15th clean sheet while closing in on the Zamora Trophy. He’ll attempt to do that with a partly familiar defence.
Worryingly for them, previous untouchables Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde are both snubbed. In their place, Swiss Army knife Eric Garcia is on the right – which Flick already gave an indication of in training – and Joao Cancelo is on the left.
The central defensive partnership is no surprise. It’s an all-Catalan affair of Pau Cubarsi and Gerard Martin, which could be broken up come next season with the potential arrival of Alessandro Bastoni.
FC Barcelona Expected Line Up Vs Osasuna: Joan Garcia; Eric, Cubarsi, Cancelo; Pedri, Gavi, Olmo; Roony, Fermin; Ferran
