At 4:00 a.m. on January 24th, Beijing time, the 22nd round of La Liga in the 21/22 season will usher in a focused battle. At the Mendizorosa Stadium, Barcelona will play Alaves away.
Battle record
In the history of La Liga, the two teams have faced each other 33 times, Barcelona has 21 wins, 7 draws and 5 losses, and the goals and losses are 86 to 30. In the away game, Barcelona has 8 wins, 5 draws and 3 losses, with a score of 32 to 13. The last time Barcelona lost to Alaves was in the third round of the 2016/17 season, when Barcelona lost 2-1 at home. The last time Barcelona lost away to Alaves was in the 15th round of the 01/02 season, when Barcelona lost 2-0. In the first clash of the season, Barcelona was tied 1-1 by Alaves at home.
Barcelona suffers a physical crisis
The battle between Barcelona and Alaves is scheduled to kick off this Sunday, local time. On Thursday, Barcelona and Biba fought 120 minutes in the Copa del Rey and ended up with a 2-3 score. The exit of the King’s Cup will not only greatly affect the morale of Barcelona, but also greatly affect the physical condition of the Red and Blue Army. Fati’s serious injury again will greatly affect the depth of Barcelona’s lineup on the offensive line. Fortunately, Luc De Jong will return from the ban in this campaign, and Barcelona finally has a real center.
Dembele banned again
Due to asking for an unrealistically high price in the contract renewal negotiations, Dembele was blocked by Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, and the Barcelona executives publicly issued an expulsion order for him. Barcelona hopes that Dembele will leave the team in the winter, and even Xavi, who originally supported him, feels that the wood cannot be carved. But what is speechless is that Dembele declared that the contract renewal negotiations are not over, and he will continue to have a dialogue with Barcelona. Dembele’s strategy of delaying troops is likely to not work this time. In order to force Dembele to leave the team as soon as possible, Barcelona will inevitably continue to block him.
Four key battles for Barcelona
Real Madrid, Sevilla and Betis have a bigger lead in the standings, while Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad, Barcelona and Vallecano are the main contenders for the fourth place in La Liga. Before this round, Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad both scored 33 points, Barcelona 32 points, and Vallecano 31 points. After the Champions League, the King’s Cup, and the Western Super Cup are all out, Barcelona’s remaining goals this season are only to win the Europa League and lock the top four in the league to get the Champions League tickets. The competition for the fourth place in La Liga this season is extremely fierce, which means that every league game is a final for Barcelona.
Pre-match remarks
Xavi (Barcelona coach): Dembele? His situation has not changed and he has to make a decision. Dembele has been training very well, but he is very aware of his situation. There was no need for further discussion, it was all up to him now. Fati? His old injury came back, and he needed to recover mentally. Hopefully he can forget about the injury, we need to plan accordingly. We lost a very important player and we need to work hard to get him out of injury.
Predicted starter
Alaves (4-4-2): Pacheco/Aguirre Gavillia, Miazga, LaGuardia, Duarte/Jason, Moya, Escalante, Li Oya/Joselu, Mendes
Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen/Alves, Araujo, Pique, Alba/Gavi, Busquets, Frenkie de Jong/Aboud, Luc De Rong, Ferran TorresReturn to Sohu, see more
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