Barcelona have been under immense pressure from their fans to retain their Spanish La Liga title for this year as well. They are currently in the second position, trailing arch-rivals Real Madrid by only three points. However, the Galacticos need only one point to displace the Catalan giants from the throne and take away the title this term when they face Malaga this weekend and given the form Los Blancos are in, it will be very unlikely if they are denied a win by Malaga.
With their chances looking really bleak, Barcelona is expected to go in with their full force to make their outward chance of retaining the crown for this season, when they face Eibar on home turf. With the highest scorer of this season’s La Liga campaign, Lionel Messi at the peak of his form, it is supposed that the Blaugrana will win the contest with considerable ease.
Team News-
Barcelona-
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique will be happy to have most of his starting XI with him for the encounter this weekend. However, Javier Mascherano is set to miss the match with an injury. Spanish defender Gerrard Pique, who missed their last matchup against Las Palmas, has reportedly returned to training and might be seen in action in this match.
Eibar-
Eibar coach Jose Luis Mendilibar will be without midfielder Fran Rico, who has been suffering from a prolonged knee injury since February. Another key player of his squad, defender Antonio Luna, is supposed to miss the matchup due to a hamstring injury that has kept him on the sideline since April.
Line-up-
Barcelona-
Ter Stegen, Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba, Busquets, Iniesta, Rakitic, Messi, Suarez, Neymar
Eibar-
Riesgo, Capa, Galvez, Lejeune, Junca, Garcia, Escalente, Leon, Gonzalez, Inui, Enrich
Key Players-
Barcelona-
Lionel Messi, undoubtedly, will be the main player upon whom Barcelona is going to depend on bringing them a much desired win in their next match. With 35 goals this season, Lionel Messi has once again proved that he is the talisman the Catalan giants can’t do without.
Eibar-
Sergi Enrich, the Eibar striker, has been among the goals this season. He has scored 11 of them so far and will be Eibar’s spearhead in their matchup against Barcelona.
Likely Outcome-
The Catalan giants will definitely look to make their chance to retain the La Liga trophy count when they go out on the pitch against Eibar. Eibar, however, fresh from their 1-0 defeat to Las Palmas, will be looking to consolidate their eighth-place finish this season with a very unlikely win over Barcelona.
Prediction- 3-1 (Barcelona)
