Having finally gotten off the mark with a win in La Liga 2022/23 last weekend, FC Barcelona will be hoping to make it two victories in a row when they welcome struggling Real Valladolid at home at the Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday night.
On their visit to the Reale Arena at San Sebastian, Barcelona demolished Real Socieded 4-1 while Real Valldolid picked up an important point with a dazzling display against Sevilla last weekend.
In their opening encounter of the La Liga 2022/23 campaign, Barcelona were left frustrated in front of a capacity crowd at the Camp Nou. Despite creating several chances, Rayo Vallecano’s defence proved to be quite disciplined and tricky to get past. As a result, the match ended in a goalless draw with criticism aimed at the side for their sterile display in the final third.
However, all that was put to rest inside two minutes at San Sebastian when high-profile summer signing Robert Lewandowski opened his La Liga scoring account with a sublime finish with his left foot after reacting to a low cross from Alejandro Balde.
While the first half against Real Sociedad proved to be an extremely chaotic affair, with the formation and role clarity of the players looking uncertain, the team also suffered in the absence of Sergio Busquets who was serving a one-match suspension after getting red carded against Rayo Vallecano.
However, changes from the bench completely turned the tide in the second half. Barcelona’s number 10 Ansu Fati, especially proved to be crucial and he scored a goal while assisting two others immediately after coming on a substitute. Lewandowski grabbed his second goal of the night while Ousmane Dembele also got on the scoresheet to make it 4-1 on the night and drive home the superiority as well as the riches that come with Barcelona’s prolific frontline.
The Catalan club were also busy during the mid-week as they hosted Manchester City at the Camp Nou in a special friendly for charity dedicated towards research against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The match was organized to also pay tributes to former Barcelona goalkeeper Juan Carlos Unzue who has been ALS stricken since 2020.
Xavi drew 3-3 with his former mentor Pep Guardiola’s side in a thrilling clash that involved end-to-end action. Wantaway players Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Memphis Depay, and Frenkie De Jong all got on the scoresheet for Barcelona.
Going into the clash on Sunday evening, Barcelona will be looking to make it back-to-back wins as well as an undefeated start to the league campaign with a victory over Real Valladolid before they making the trip to Seville at the start of September.
Having arrived in the middle of the season when Barcelona were ninth in the standings, Xavi steered the ship to safety and they finished second behind arch-rivals Real Madrid, who won the trophy with a 13 point lead. Barcelona’s dominant activities in the transfer market this summer also need little mention and it must also be added that they are still looking to add more profiles and secure more exits before the transfer window comes to an end going into next week.
The Catalan giants have also won each of their last six La Liga clashes against Real Valladolid, which also includes the 1-0 victory over them when they last met each other at the Camp Nou in April 2021. Barcelona haven’t conceded a single goal against the visitors since October 2019 and the likes of Ronald Araujo and Marc Andre Ter Stegen would love to keep that clean sheet record intact.
After finishing 19th in La Liga in 2020-21, Real Valladolid were relegated to the Segunda Division. However, it didn’t take them long to return to Spain’s top flight with just one season spent in the second tier as they finished second last season.
The White and Violets will have a difficult challenge of staying up this season and they will be aware of the enormity of the task that awaits them. They opened their new La Liga campaign with a hammering loss after going down 3-0 at home to Villarreal on the first weekend.
However, there were clear signs of progress in their next game against Sevilla were Pacheta’s side showed a much more improved display. It was enough for them to earn a point at the might Estadio Sanchez Ramon Pizjuan in Seville. Valladolid actually took the lead of the contest in the 80th minute through Anuar Tuhami, and were disappointed when Karim Rekik equalized for the home side just six minutes later.
Following the mammoth clash against Barcelona at the Camp Nou, Real Valladolid will have three huge matches against Almeria, Girona and Cadiz and the prospect of securing as many points as possible from fixtures like those will actually end up determining whether they have the ability to avoid getting dragged into the relegation battle this season.
The newly promoted side, co-owned by legendary Brazilian striker Ronaldo, have also made strong acquisitions in the summer transfer market. They can also take comfort in the fact that Barcelona lost five matches in front of their own fans at home last season and Real Valladolid will be desperate to pull off another major upset in the early stages of the season here.
BAR vs VLD, La Liga 2022/23
Date: 28th August, 2022
Time: 11:00 PM IST
Venue: Camp Nou Spotify, Barcelona
FORM GUIDE:
Barcelona La Liga form:
- D-W
Barcelona form (all competitions):
- D-W-D
Real Valladolid La Liga form:
- L-D
HEAD-TO-HEAD:
Barcelona wins: 20
Draws: 4
Real Valladolid wins: 2
TEAM NEWS:
Barcelona Team News:
Latest reports suggest that Barcelona have managed to register Jules Kounde with La Liga so far. The reports further claim that Kounde hadn’t been registered for the previous two fixtures due to mistakes on the league’s behalf which has obviously angered Barcelona as well as the player. Kounde could be in line for his official debut for the club on Saturday night and if Xavi does give into the temptation, he may even start the clash partnering Ronald Araujo at the heart of the defence.
Alejandro Balde who did pretty well in the last game against Real Sociedad may have done enough to keep Jordi Alba on the bench for another match. Sergio Busquets who missed the last game due to suspension will slot straight into the starting XI and Frenkie de Jong might get the nod over Gavi who has looked underwhelming in the first two games.
Upfront, Xavi has to make a decision whether he wants to start with Ansu Fati who turned out to be the game-changer last weekend or stick with Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha on the wings. Robert Lewandowski will be leading the line as usual after his sensational performance against Real Sociedad while Sergi Roberto is also expected to start at right-back after impressive against Manchester City in the midweek charity fixture.
Real Valladolid Team News:
As far as Real Valladolid are concerned, Shon Weissman remains sidelined with a muscular problem. Gonzalo Plata is also likely to be unavailable for the trip to Catalonia due to injury.
Jawad El Yamiq’s participation has also been ruled out of the defender saw a straight red card during the latter stages of the clash against Sevilla in the previous encounter. Joaquin Fernandez may return to the middle of the defence.
There could also be changes up front with Pedro Leon potentially replacing Sergi Guardiola.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; S Roberto, Araujo, Kounde, Balde; F De Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Fati, Lewandowski, Raphinha
Real Valladolid possible starting lineup:
Asenjo; L Perez, Sanchez, Fernandez, Escudero; Aguado, Mesa, K Perez; Tuhami, Leon, Sanchez
Predictions:
It goes without saying that Barcelona will be looking to back up their excellent win over Real Sociedad with another resounding victory, this time in front of the thousands of supporters at home. The fact that Lewandowski has already gotten off the mark and is hitting his stride is a cause of much celebration for fans of the club and he will be the favourite to grab goals here as well.
Real Valladolid have enough quality to cause problems and Guardiola loves himself a challenge against Barcelona after being rejected by the club years ago. However, the hosts have plenty in their tank and are star-studded almost all over the pitch to avoid an upset. Expect a strong victory for Xavi’s team at home.
