Today in the Spanish "La Liga" championship there will be a Catalan derby. Regardless of the current positions of these teams, there is always a fight and emotions in their matchups. EuroFootball.com presents you with a preview of these matches.
Match:
The game will take place on January 2nd at 17:00 at the "Estadi Cornellà-El Prat" stadium.
History:
The teams will face each other for the 163rd time. "Barcelona" has won 93 of these matchups, while their opponents have won 34 times.
In recent times, Barcelona has had a stronger advantage - they have won the last seven meetings, while Espanyol has not won any of the last twelve official matches against them.
In the last match on April 25, 2015, Barcelona defeated their opponents 2:0 playing away.
Motivation:
Despite winning five titles last year, Barcelona is not lacking in motivation, as reflected in the words of their coach Luis Enrique ahead of the upcoming match.
"I don't drown in memories and 2015 is in the past for me. Now I'm interested in 2016 and how we can be the best again. That's what professionals do. We can all become better. Both players and coaches, as well as all the people who belong to this club. There is a small difference between the strongest teams in Europe, and we must continue to work hard," Enrique said to the Barcelona club website before the match.
Espanyol should also have motivation to finally defeat their rivals and break the streak of losses.
Team news:
In the Barcelona club, good news is approaching. The team's ban on signing new players has ended, which means that Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal will soon be able to help them. However, the team has not yet registered them for the La Liga championship, so they will not be available for today's match. Rafinha, who is recovering from a severe injury, will also not be able to help the team.
There is more news in the Espanyol club, and not all of it is positive. The good news is that Papakouli Diop will return to the team after suspension. The bad news for the team's fans is the injuries of the two other defenders - Victor Sanchez and Jose Canas.
Predicted starting lineups:
Barcelona (4-3-3): Bravo; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Busquets, Roberto, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez, Neymar.
Espanyol: P. Lopez; J. Lopez, Roco, Alvaro, Duarte; Diop, Jordan; Asensio, Salva Sevilla, Perez; Caicedo.
Interesting facts about this match:
In the last three meetings at the "Estadi Cornellà-El Prat" stadium, the Espanyol team ended the matches with a player receiving a red card in front of their own fans;
In the last seven La Liga matches against Barcelona, Espanyol has scored only one goal (Sergio Garcia in 2014);
This year, Barcelona has awarded the most penalty kicks of all the top European clubs (nine);
None of the current Espanyol players has scored against Barcelona while representing this club (Felipe Caicedo scored in 2011 while playing for Levante, and Paco Montanes scored for Real Zaragoza against Barcelona in 2012);
Neymar has provided 12 assists in his last 12 matches (in all competitions);
Lionel Messi is the all-time leading scorer in Barcelona derbies. He has scored 13 goals in matchups against Espanyol;
Messi is also the only player to have scored a hat-trick twice in the Barcelona derby.
