.png)
Following Gerard Pique’s unexpected retirement announcement, Barcelona welcomes recently promoted Almeria to Camp Nou in an attempt to keep the pressure on Real Madrid at the top.
Read Also
The Catalan giants took out their frustrations on Viktoria Plzen in midweek, while the visitors won their fourth game of the season last weekend, 3-1 against Celta Vigo.
Match preview
It has been another rollercoaster week at Barcelona, as one of the club’s greatest ever defenders, Gerard Pique, announced his retirement on Thursday evening, citing the weekend’s upcoming LaLiga fixture as his last ever appearance at Camp Nou.
One of only four to have managed more games in Blaugrana is Pique’s current manager, Xavi, who made the most of a dead-rubber Champions League tie to rotate his squad on Wednesday, handing minutes to four youngsters in a 4-2 win over Viktoria Plzen.
Robert Lewandowski scored a 93rd-minute winner at Mestalla last time out, as Xavi’s men made it three consecutive wins in the Spanish top flight, with 29 goals scored and just four conceded in their 12 outings so far.
Helped by an early red card for Gabri Veiga, Los Indalicos made it three consecutive home wins in the league, having scored three goals in each of those hugely encouraging victories.
Los Rojiblancos are yet to win on the road, with just one point from their six trips so far this season, and they will be up against it as they travel to Camp Nou, where Barcelona have scored 15 and conceded zero this campaign.
Team News
Even after mass rotation in midweek, Xavi could not escape the injury curse, as Franck Kessie suffered a thigh injury in Plzen and had to be withdrawn after 67 minutes.
Alongside the Ivorian, all of Sergi Roberto (shoulder), Ronald Araujo (thigh) and Eric Garcia (groin) will miss out, while Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen and Memphis Depay may be fit enough to make the bench.
Regardless, Gerard Pique will certainly start in the centre of defence, as he bids goodbye to Camp Nou once and for all.
The visitors arrive with a relatively healthy squad, with only fringe players Juanjo Nieto and Ivan Martos looking likely to miss out.
As such, we should not see too many selection surprises from Rubi here, who could name an unchanged squad from last weekend’s win.
Possible starting lineup:
| Barcelona | Almeria |
|---|---|
| ter Stegen | Martinez |
| Balde | Ely |
| Garcia | Akieme |
| Kounde | Babic |
| Alba | Robertone |
| Pedri | Samu |
| Gavi | De La Hoz |
| Busquets | Pozo |
| De Jong | Eguaras |
| Lewandowski | Ramazani |
| Dembele | Toure |
Probabilities
Barcelona = 61.7%
Draw = 18.8%
Almeria = 19.5%
Prediction
Barcelona 2-1 Almeria
Where to watch live match??
JK Sportz360 provides free live football streaming HD as well as live scores.
LIVE STREAM ENDED.
