In the entire history of the Spain national championships, the situation at the end has been as it is yesterday, writes fcbarcelona.lt.
Both "Barcelona" and Madrid "Real" had opportunities ten times to win the gold of "La Liga" in the final round, but historical championship statistics so far "favor" the team from the Spanish capital. 8 times this scenario ended favorably for the Catalans, once the "Real" footballers triumphed, and in 1983-1984, the "Athletic" Bilbao club became the champions of "La Liga".
Yesterday, the scenarios of the last minutes of the 90th "La Liga" matches are several.
A victory by any margin would allow "Barca" to become the country's champion for the 24th time regardless of how the match with La Coruna's "Deportivo" ends for Madrid "Real".
A draw or a loss for the Catalans would give the golden opportunity to Zinedine Zidane's team, which would then need a victory by any margin.
Real's loss or draw automatically means that the champion becomes "Barcelona".
In the event that "Barcelona" loses and Madrid "Real" ends their match in a draw, both country giants would have 88 points. Then the gold of the national championships would go to the Catalonia club, which has a better head-to-head goal ratio with "Real" - a victory of 4:0 and a loss of 1:3, i.e. a total result of 5:3 in favor of Luis Enrique's students.
Historical statistics should also give additional optimism to the "Barcelona" team's supporters.
In 15 out of the last 17 matches, the Catalonia club was stronger than the "Granada" team, which last season failed to earn a point in matches against the top five strongest Spanish teams according to their positions in the league table.
Pinned in the corner, the Granada team did not wait for the last "La Liga" match against "Barcelona" and secured the right to remain in the elite division by playing away matches with "Sevilla". Jose Gonzalez Lopez's students sent four goals to the opponent's goal, while conceding just one. Former "Barcelona" academy player Isaac Cuenca scored twice, while Jean-Sylvain Claude Babin and Youssef El Arabi each scored once.
The right to move forward without hesitation was given to the "Barcelona" team by the Camp Nou stadium, where they scored five goals against Barcelona's "Espanyol" team. Two of them were scored by Luis Suarez, while Lionel Messi, Rafinha, and Neymar each scored one.
Previous duels
Throughout the history of the highest Spanish league, both teams played a total of 21 matches at the "Granada" stadium. The home team won 5 matches, "Barcelona" was stronger 12 times, and 4 matches ended in a draw.
Goal difference: 31-22 in favor of "Barcelona".
During the last season, the clash of both teams at the "Los Carmenes" stadium ended with a victory for the Catalonia club with a score of 3:1.
Players who replaced marquee players
"Granada CF" - 3;
"FC Barcelona" - 0.
Ruben Rochina was fascinated by the opportunity to try his strength in England, but the footballer's career at Blackburn Rovers was short. The player, who defended the honor of the Catalonia club's youth academy "Barcelona B" from 2008 to 2011, signed a four-year contract with the Blackburn team in the summer of 2011, but it only lasted half of the planned time. In 2013, the player was loaned to the "Zaragoza" team, and then on a rental basis defended the honor of "Rayo Vallecano". Deciding that he would prefer to play in Spain, in the summer of 2014, R. Rochina put his signature on a four-year contract with "Granada".
In the 2012-2013 season, the now "Granada" defender David Lomban wore the jersey of "Barcelona B" team. He arrived at the club after ending his contract with "Elche".
Isaac Cuenca's career in Turkey lasted only six months. In the summer of 2015, the former "Barcelona" academy forward signed a three-year contract with the "Bursaspor" team, but in the summer of 2016, he put his signature on a contract with "Granada". It is valid until the end of this season.
Isaac Cuenca arrived at "La Masia" at the age of just 12, but the footballer's path was not easy. After just three seasons, he returned to his hometown team in Reus, then spent a year with the "Damm" team, and put on the "Barcelona" jersey for the second time in 2009.
On October 19, 2011, I. Cuenca made his debut in the main team in the Champions League match against Plzen's "Victoria". In January 2012, he became a regular member of the elite "Barca" team, but this is where the young player's misfortunes began - several serious injuries, one after another, kept him out of the lineup for almost a year.
Part of 2013 I. Cuenca spent in Amsterdam, where he played on loan basis for the "Ajax" team, but he did not return to "Barca". In the summer of 2014, "Barcelona" released the player and he signed a contract as a free agent with "Deportivo".
The Andalusian team includes goalkeeper Oier Olazabal, who played in Barcelona's youth academy from 2007 to 2014. However, before this season, the goalkeeper went on loan to "Real Sociedad" in San Sebastian.
"Granada" winter transfer market
Isaac Cuenca became the key acquisition of the Andalusian team in the player transfer market. On February 1, the footballer signed a six-month contract with "Granada".
As a free agent, the 34-year-old defender from Portugal, Ricardo Costa, moved to the team from PAOK Salonika, and the 23-year-old French full-back Abdoulaye Doucoure was borrowed from "Watford".
Predicted line-ups
"Granada CF" (4-3-3) - Andres Fernandez; Lopes, Babin, R. Costa, Biraghi; Rochina, Perez, Doucoure, Cuenca; Penaranda, El-Arabi.
"Barcelona" (4-3-3) - Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Dani Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Jordi Alba; Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic; Neymar, Luis Suarez, Messi.
Weather conditions
Temperature: +17-19 °C
Wind: northwest, 3-5 meters per second
Humidity: 60 percent
Probability of precipitation: 0 percent
Team news
Barcelona will be without the injured Claudio Bravo and Sandro Ramirez, while the Frenchman Dimitri Foulquier will definitely not help the home team. It is also unclear if Isaac Success and Diego Mainz will be able to play.
The head coach of the Catalonia club, Luis Enrique, decided not to make any exceptions for the last "La Liga" match of this season and took all his students to Granada - both healthy and injured.
Referee
Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez (Balearic Islands / Las Palmas Referees College).
He served in the top division for the first time on September 24, 2013 in a match where Valencia's "Levante" played 1:1 with "Valladolid".
Throughout this season, he refereed 19 matches showing 104 yellow cards, sent off five players for two warnings in the same match, and showed red cards to two players straightaway.
For "Barcelona", A. J. Hernandez Hernandez has served as a referee six times, and the Catalans would surely not want to remember three of those matches.
On March 8, 2014, the then Gerardo Martino-managed "Barca" lost 0:1 away to "Valladolid", and last season, in an unpleasant surprise for the visiting Catalans, "Malaga" served them a 0:0 draw.
However, after that, "Barcelona" still won three games: in last season's Copa del Rey semi-final, they defeated "Villarreal" 3:1, in a "La Liga" match they beat "Almeria" 4:0, and in the second round of this season, they turned the tables at the "Camp Nou" stadium and defeated Vigo's "Celta" 6:1 after a humiliating away loss.
Still, the crucial meeting in which A. J. Hernandez Hernandez worked again left a heavy impression on Barcelona's fans - a 1:3 loss in the second "El Clasico" of this season. And not just anywhere, but at the "Camp Nou" stadium.
fcbarcelona.lt
