Barcelona will play the third-last league game of the season in LaLiga against Levante on Tuesday-evening. Ronald Koeman makes his return to the bench after a suspension of two matches los Azulgrana and chooses a team in Valencia with, among others, Frenkie de Jong in midfield. Right back Sergiño Dest, however, has no starting spot and is relieved by Ousmane Dembélé. Sergio Busquets is ‘just’ there after he had to be replaced with a head injury in the top match against Atlético Madrid last Saturday. The meeting in the Estadi Ciutat de València starts at 10 pm.
Barcelona again appears to be playing in a 3-5-2 line-up, with Gerard Piqué, Clément Lenglet and Ronald Araújo forming the three-man defense and Marc-André ter Stegen on target. Araújo played an excellent second half against Atlético and is preferred over Óscar Mingueza. Busquets has recovered from his complaints after an aerial duel with Stefan Savic and forms a midfield with De Jong and Pedri. The sides are for Dembélé and Jordi Alba, while Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann are at the forefront. So Dembele seems to be playing as wing-back or right half, a position he once held under Ernesto Valverde but not yet under Koeman.
Barcelona, which has accumulated 75 points so far, will stay overnight at the top of La Liga’s win. Atlético Madrid, 77 points, will play in-house against number five Real Sociedad on Wednesday evening, which still needs a few points to ensure its participation in the Europa League. Reigning champion Real Madrid, 77 points, will play against middle-engine Granada on Wednesday evening. Zinedine Zidane’s team has a better mutual result against both Atlético and Barcelona, but is in any case dependent on a misstep by the townsman in the three remaining days of the Spanish league.
Suspension imminent?
More and more players from Barcelona are on edge. In addition to Lionel Messi and Frenkie de Jong, who have both been on four yellow cards for several months, Óscar Mingueza, Antoine Griezmann, Jordi Alba and Gerard Piqué also risk a suspension. If Messi takes a yellow card tonight, he may have already finished his last match for Barcelona at the Camp Nou. The club top scorer of all time has still not given any clarity about his future and on Sunday, Celta de Vigo will be the last opponent in a home game. The Catalans close the season against Eibar.
Line-up Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Araújo, Piqué, Lenglet; Dembélé, De Jong, Busquets, Pedri, Jordi Alba; Messi and Griezmann.
| No. | Team | M. | W. | G. | V. | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlético Madrid | 35 | 23 | 8 | 4 | 39 | 77 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 35 | 22 | 9 | 4 | 34 | 75 |
| 3 | Barcelona | 35 | 23 | 6 | 6 | 47 | 75 |
| 4 | Seville | 35 | 22 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 71 |
| 5 | Real Sociedad | 35 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 56 |
| 6 | Real Betis | 35 | 15 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 54 |
| 7 | Villarreal | 35 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 52 |
| 8 | Celta de Vigo | 35 | 12 | 11 | 12 | -3 | 47 |
| 9 | Athletic Club | 35 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 46 |
| 10 | Granada | 35 | 13 | 6 | 16 | -13 | 45 |
| 11 | Osasuna | 36 | 11 | 11 | 14 | -9 | 44 |
| 12 | Cadiz | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | -20 | 43 |
| 13 | Valencia | 35 | 9 | 12 | 14 | -5 | 39 |
| 14 | Levante | 35 | 9 | 12 | 14 | -10 | 39 |
| 15 | Getafe | 35 | 8 | 10 | 17 | -15 | 34 |
| 16 | Alavés | 35 | 7 | 11 | 17 | -24 | 32 |
| 17 | Real Valladolid | 35 | 5 | 16 | 14 | -17 | 31 |
| 18 | Huesca | 35 | 6 | 12 | 17 | -19 | 30 |
| 19 | Elche | 35 | 6 | 12 | 17 | -23 | 30 |
| 20 | Eibar | 35 | 6 | 11 | 18 | -19 | 29 |