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Who: Villareal vs Barcelona
What: Spain’s La Liga
Where: Estadio de la Ceramica successful Villareal, Spain
When: Sunday, December 21, astatine 4:15pm (15:15 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll person each the build-up connected Al Jazeera Sport from 1215 GMT successful beforehand of our substance commentary stream. Click present to travel our unrecorded coverage.
Villarreal has softly mounted a imaginable acheronian equine rubric run done astir of the archetypal fractional of La Liga.
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Now it has a accidental to marque it authoritative erstwhile the “Yellow Submarine” big Barcelona connected Sunday.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look astatine a crippled that could stroke the Spanish apical formation wide open.
How person Villareal fared successful La Liga this season?
The squad coached by Marcelino Garcia Toral is successful 3rd place, 8 points down person Barcelona and 4 down second-placed Real Madrid. But it has played 2 less games than the powerhouses, truthful it could easy beryllium successful an adjacent stronger position.
Villarreal has disappointed successful the Champions League and was eliminated from the Copa del Rey by a lower-division broadside this week. But La Liga is simply a antithetic story. Villarreal is connected a six-game winning run, and its lone 2 losses person travel astatine Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Marcelino’s men person besides turned their La Ceramica stadium into a fortress, conceding a miserly 4 goals successful 8 location matches portion remaining unbeaten and winning each but 1 of those league encounters.
How person Barcelona fared successful La Liga this season?
The crippled volition pit the league’s apical defence successful Villarreal, with 13 goals allowed successful 17 games, against the league’s apical attack. Barcelona has poured successful 49 goals successful that clip – 15 much than closest challengers Real – and much than made up for a sometimes shaky defence by outscoring its opponents.
Barcelona volition look to some quash thoughts of a situation by Villarreal and adjacent 2025 connected a precocious enactment this weekend.
An eighth consecutive league triumph for Lamine Yamal and institution would besides support the unit connected a Madrid broadside which is struggling.
Madrid hosts Sevilla connected Saturday, with manager Xabi Alonso successful request of a convincing triumph earlier they person the two-week wintertime interruption to ponder the team’s future.
What happened successful Villareal’s past match?
Adding insult to the wounded of Villareal’s difficulties extracurricular of La Liga this season, they suffered a daze 2-1 Copa del Rey decision to second-tier Racing de Santander connected Wednesday.
Their past La Liga lucifer was connected December 6, and was a 2-0 location triumph against Girona. In betwixt those 2 matches, Villareal besides suffered a 3-2 location decision astatine the hands of Copenhagen successful the Champions League.
What happened successful Barcelona’s past match?
Andreas Christensen and Marcus Rashford struck precocious successful the crippled to manus Barcelona a hard-fought 2-0 victory against third-tier broadside Guadalajara successful the Copa del Rey connected Tuesday.
Their past La Liga lucifer besides saw the Catalans pushed to the bounds by Osasuna with Raphinha netting doubly precocious successful the crippled to unafraid a 2-0 win.
What is the concealed of Villareal’s La Liga form?
Villarreal has based its occurrence connected a squad effort with respective goal-scorers and playmakers. But near winger Alberto Moleiro stands out. He is having a breakout archetypal play with the squad and leads Villarreal with six league goals. Tajon Buchanan has added 5 goals, and midfielder Santi Comesana helps a coagulated midfield.
What are Barcelona’s challenges successful their La Liga defence?
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has truthful acold succeeded successful making a left-side centre-back of Gerard Martin, who struggled to capable successful astatine near backmost erstwhile Alejandro Balde was injured precocious past season.
Martin has 5 consecutive starts successful the centre of the antiaircraft enactment arsenic Flick tries to find a replacement for Inigo Martínez, who near earlier successful the twelvemonth for Saudi Arabia. Martin whitethorn beryllium tested by Villarreal’s attack.
What happened to La Liga’s program to play Villareal-Barcelona successful Miami?
The Sunday showdown was originally earmarked for Miami until La Liga’s planetary enlargement plans collapsed nether heavy criticism, forcing the cancellation of what would person been the archetypal European league lucifer played abroad.
What happened the past clip Villareal played Barcelona?
Villareal were 3-2 winners successful the La Liga clash successful May astatine Barcelona successful the side’s past encounter, though the location broadside had already secured the league rubric 5 days erstwhile to the match.
The distant broadside took the pb done Ayoze Perez aft lone 4 minutes, but Yamal and Fermin Lopez turned the crippled successful Barca’s favour earlier the break. Villareal were not done, however, with Santi Comesana levelling successful the 50th infinitesimal earlier Tajon Buchanan scored the victor 10 minutes from time.
What happened successful the corresponding fixture betwixt Villareal and Barcelona past season?
The archetypal gathering betwixt the sides past play resulted successful a 5-1 drubbing arsenic Barcelona ran amok astatine successful Villareal.
Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha some netted braces either broadside of Pedro Torre’s strike. Perez was besides connected the scoresheet successful this lucifer for the location side, but it proved lone to beryllium a consolation.
Head-to-head
This is the 55th gathering betwixt the sides, with Barcelona winning 33 of the matches and Villarreal emerging victorious connected 11 occasions.
Villareal person won their past 2 trips to Barcelona, but the Catalan nine person the aforesaid grounds from their past 2 games astatine La Ceramica.
Villareal squad news
Villarreal received a timely boost arsenic veterans Gerard Moreno and Dani Parejo returned to grooming connected Tuesday and should beryllium disposable to look Barcelona.
Pape Gueye and Ilias Akhomach, however, are distant with Senegal astatine the Africa Cup of Nations.
Pau Cabanes is simply a definite wounded absentee, portion Thomas Partey, Gerard Moreno, Willy Kambwala and Santiago Mourino indispensable beryllium their fittingness earlier the match.
Barcelona squad news
Dani Olmo and Gavi are some absent owed to injuries, portion Ronald Araujo is acceptable to miss the crippled owed to idiosyncratic reasons.
Pedri missed grooming connected Friday owed to a calf strain, making him a large uncertainty for the match.
Predicted Villareal lineup
Luiz Junior; Navarro, Foyth, Veiga, Cardona; Buchanan, Comesana, Parejo, Moleiro; Perez, Mikautadze
Predicted Barcelona lineup
Joan Garcia; Kounde, Cubarsi, Eric Garcia, Balde; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Raphinha, Rashford; Torres
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