Barcelona vs Espanyol live in La Liga: The Xavi Era begins in Catalunya, Barcelona set to host city rivals Espanyol in Xavi Hernandez’s 1st match as the new Barcelona manager: Barcelona will welcome Espanyol in Matchday 14 of this season’s La Liga, this will be the 1st Barcelona derby of the season.
Currently languishing in 9th place, Xavi has to assiduously make some bold decisions and more importantly get them right, if Barcelona is to get back to where they were a few years ago. The former Al Saad manager has already tried to implement his authority over the squad by introducing 10 binding rules for the squad. Since Xavi has come-in, Barca has made strides in the transfer market also, they have been strongly linked to Salzburg wonderkid Karim Adeyemi, Bayern Munich forward Kingsley Coman and Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling.
(🌕) Barcelona believe they’ve got the signing of Karim Adeyemi on track. The will of the footballer, after many meetings, is prioritizing a move to the Catalan side, who understand that it will be more feasible to sign him in the summer than January. @ffpolo #Transfers 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/7UAMouSYt3
— Reshad Rahman ✆ (@ReshadRahman_) November 17, 2021
In their last match before the international break, a Sergi Barjuan led Barcelona side drew 3-3 with Celta Vigo. After leading 3-0 in the 1st half, Barca became complacent and allowed Celta to stage a come-back, in the end Barca absolutely collapsed after Iago Aspas netted an injury time equalizer.
In Matchday 13, Espanyol defeated Granada 2-0 to move up the league table to 11th place. Till now Espanyol has accumulated a total 17 points and sit level on points with their neighbors Barcelona.
Also Read: Messi Aguero Friendship: Lionel Messi’s special gesture for his good friend (insidesport.in)
When will Barcelona vs Espanyol be played? – Date
Barcelona vs Espanyol match will be played on 20th November
What time will Barcelona vs Espanyol be played? Time
BAR vs ESP match will begin at 1:30 AM IST
Where will Barcelona vs Espanyol be played? – Venue
Barcelona’s home stadium- Camp Nou
Form Guide (all competitions):
Barcelona: DWDLL
Espanyol: WLDDW
Back in the Blaugrana! pic.twitter.com/oHNLh875WN
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) November 17, 2021
Team News:
Barcelona: Barcelona has a big injury list, which includes the likes of Ansu Fati (hamstring injury), Sergio Kun Aguero (heart problem), Sergino Dest (back injury), Ousmane Dembele (hamstring injury), while Ousmane Dembele and Sergino Dest are major doubts, Fati and Aguero are definitely out of the derby game. Returning legend Dani Alves is expected to go straight in the starting lineup given Barcelona’s injury worries at right-back. Pedri is expected to be back in the squad after resuming training with the team this week.
Espanyol: Unlike Barcelona, Espanyol doesn’t have too many injury concerns only Kiedi Bare (knee injury) and Oscar Gil (physical discomfort) are out of the Barcelona clash.
Predicted Lineups:
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Alves, Garcia, Araujo, Alba, Busquets, Nico, Dejong, Depay, Coutinho, Gavi
Espanyol: Lopez, Vidal, Gomez, Cabrera, Pedrosa, Morlanes, Darder, Embarba, Melendo, Melamed, Dimata