Barcelona visit to espanyol A day in which he could be champion in a new version of the Catalan derby LaLiga 2022/23, team of Javi will wait for the result of Atletico Madrid East elche But in the event of a win in Cornella, the trophy would be assured.
The Blaugrana team has 82 points, 11 more than Real Madrid and 13 more than Cholo Simeone’s team. If he adds three units against his eternal rival, the Cully team will ensure a margin of at least 13 points over the other, with 12 at stake, which is why they will be able to shout champions.
Xavi, who is one step away from winning his first league title as a coach, will be able to use his ideal XI against Espanyol. The only doubts are the presence of Rafinha or Ousmane Dembele to complement Robert Lewandowski and Gavi in attack, and Sergi Roberto with a thigh injury.
On the other hand, Pericos, led by Luis García Fernández, are in the last position of the table with 31 points and need a win to avoid relegation to the second division of Spanish football.
Opta data in last game,
– Espanyol accumulated 25 consecutive derbies in La Liga without defeating Barcelona, the worst winless streak against the same opponent in their entire history in the top flight and the worst for a team in any regional derby in the competition.
– Barcelona have not lost any of their last 14 matches against Espanyol in LaLiga. The last was a 3–1 defeat at Lewes Companies in January 2007. The Catalan team is the team that has visited the RCDE stadium the most times in the competition without losing.
Joselu has scored 14 goals in 30 games in LaLiga 22/23, equaling his career-best in a single campaign across five major European leagues (14 goals in 37 games with Alaves in 2021/22).
– Robert Lewandowski has scored 19 goals in 29 games for Barcelona in LaLiga and, if he scores, he will be the second player since Julio Baptista in 2004 to need the fewest games to reach 20 goals in the competition in the 21st century Will become the fourth player (30), Radamel Falcao (26) in 2012 and Cristiano Ronaldo (24) in 2010.
Possible structures,
Espanyol: Pacheco; Oscar Gil, Montes, Sergi Gomez, Cabrera, Brian Olivan; Denis Suarez, Sergi Darder, Nico Melamed/Calero; Joselu and Braithwaite
Barcelona: ter roasting; Blunt, Wednesday, Christensen, Alex Buckett; Pedri, Busquets, De Jong; Rafinha/Dembele, Lewandowski and Gavi.
