Barcelona’s line-up for the championship game with rival Espanyol has been announced. On Sunday evening, the Catalans can assure themselves of the national title loose Pericos be defeated. Frenkie de Jong can in any case count on a basic place and forms the middle line with Pedri and Sergio Busquets. The match starts at 9 p.m. and can be viewed on Ziggo Sports Select.
Where Barcelona is the new champion of Spain with a win, the situation is reversed for Espanyol. The team of coach Luis García is nineteenth and urgently needs to find its way up. Although the 1-0 win over fellow relegation candidate Getafe gave the second club from Barcelona some breathing space, Los Blanquiazules in the previous round against Sevilla (3-2). It was one of eight defeats in Espanyol’s last ten matches. Central defender José Gragera is missing due to a muscle injury, although the club can have Martin Braithwaite again. The Danish striker, who has scored nine times for Espanyol since his summer arrival from Barcelona, returns from a suspension.
At Barcelona, last week was mainly about the announcement of Sergio Busquets. The midfielder announced that he will leave the club after this season. The veteran won with Blaugrana including the Champions League three times, while the 34-year-old veteran will celebrate his ninth national championship with the club. Barcelona are the strongest away side in LaLiga this season, while Espanyol are the second worst team in home games. Only the already relegated Elche is doing worse at home. In any case, the focus at Barcelona is already on next season. In particular, there is talk of a return of Lionel Messi, although Barcelona could not match the financial strength in Saudi Arabia.
Setup Espanyol: Pacheco; Oscar Gil, César Montes, Sergi Gómez, Cabrera, Brian Oliván; Darder, Denis Suarez, Melamed; Braithwaite, Joselu.
Barcelona line-up: Ter Stegen; Koundé, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Busquets, Frenkie De Jong, Pedri; Gavi, Lewandowski, Raphinha.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | v | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona | 33 | 26 | 4 | 3 | 49 | 82 |
| 2 | RealMadrid | 34 | 22 | 5 | 7 | 38 | 71 |
| 3 | Atletico Madrid | 34 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 33 | 69 |
| 4 | real society | 34 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 62 |
| 5 | Villarreal | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 57 |
| 6 | RealBetis | 33 | 15 | 7 | 11 | 3 | 52 |
| 7 | Girona | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 48 |
| 8 | Athletic Club | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 47 |
| 9 | Osasuna | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | -4 | 47 |
| 10 | Rayo Vallecano | 33 | 12 | 10 | 11 | -2 | 46 |
| 11 | Seville | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | -8 | 44 |
| 12 | Real Majorca | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | -4 | 44 |
| 13 | Celta de Vigo | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | -9 | 39 |
| 14 | valencia | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | -3 | 37 |
| 15 | Almeria | 34 | 10 | 6 | 18 | -18 | 36 |
| 16 | Cadiz | 34 | 8 | 11 | 15 | -24 | 35 |
| 17 | Real Valladolid | 33 | 10 | 5 | 18 | -27 | 35 |
| 18 | Getafe | 34 | 8 | 10 | 16 | -13 | 34 |
| 19 | Espanyol | 33 | 7 | 10 | 16 | -16 | 31 |
| 20 | Elche | 34 | 4 | 7 | 23 | -38 | 19 |