In the previous round of La Liga, Barcelona lost to Real Madrid 1: 3 and lost its position as the leader of the competition. Yesterday, the team from Madrid comfortably beat Elche 3-0 and to stay in touch with their main rivals for the title, Barcelona need a victory against seventh-placed Villareal.
FC Barcelona – Villarreal CF. Will Lewandowski’s team stay in touch with Real Madrid?
Ahead of Thursday’s clash with Villarreal, Barcelona, with 22 points under their belt, remain second in the standings but level on points with third-placed Real Sociedad. San Sebastian beat Mallorca 1-0 on Wednesday. To get away from Real Sociedad and get closer to Real Madrid within three points again, Barcelona needs to beat the strong Villarreal.
Unai Emery’s team has so far won 15 points and is fighting to enter the European competition zone. After four wins, three draws and two defeats, they will be just three points behind sixth-placed Athletic Bilbao. Villarreal beat Osasuna 2-0 on the previous matchday thanks to two goals from Arnaut Danjuma. Even before the announcement of Emery’s squads, it was known that midfielder Francis Coquelin, who is recovering from a calf injury, and the team’s biggest star, striker Gerard Moreno, will be unavailable for the game.
The previous meeting between the two teams took place on May 22, 2022. Villarreal won 2-0 at the Camp Nou with goals from Alfonso Pedraza and Moi Gomez. In the previous four meetings, Barcelona was better.
FC Barcelona – Villarreal CF. We got to know the lineups for the hit of the 10th round of La Liga
Traditionally, an hour before the match, we got to know the lineups of both teams. In the Barcelona team, as announced by the coach, the fans have seen a few changes. There has been a revolution in attack: instead of Dembele and Raphinhia we will see Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres. Xavi, on the other hand, invariably bets on Robert Lewandowski.
Ter Stegen – Sergi Roberto, Kounde, Marcos Alonso, Alba – de Jong, Gavi, Pedri – Ferran Torres, Fati, Lewandowski.
On the bench were: Bellerin, Pique, Busquets, Dembele, Kessie, Raphinha, Eric Garcia, Pena, Balde, Torre, Tenas.
Unai Emery has named the following players to play:
Rulli – Femenia, Albiol, Pau Torres, Pedraza – Jackson, Baena, Morlanes, Pino – Danjuma, Morlanes.
On the bench: Reina-Alvarez, Cuenca, Chukwueze, Mojica, Trigueros, Moreno, Morales, Mandi.
Source: Sport
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