Overview
After an impressive start to the season, Barcelona unexpectedly declined in late 2024 and let Real Madrid create a large gap in La Liga. However, things have not yet slipped out of the Blaugrana's control. With Los Blancos' recent defeat to Espanyol, Barca have the opportunity to catch up with their rivals.
Barcelona have just finished the League Phase of the Champions League in second place and qualified directly for the round of 16. This allows the Catalans to save more energy than Real Madrid. They can take advantage of this time to narrow the gap or even surpass their opponents in the rankings.
Raphinha is an important part of Barcelona's attack with 6 goals in the last 6 matches in all competitions. The Brazilian striker is expected to continue scoring against Alaves.
As for Alaves, they are in relatively stable form. In the last 7 matches since the end of November 2024 until now, Alaves has drawn 5 matches and defeated Real Betis with a score of 3-1. 8 points in these matches help Alaves gradually escape the relegation group.
However, it is also impossible to ignore the fact that the quality of Alaves' personnel and class are completely inferior to Barcelona's star players. In the first leg of this season, Blaugrana easily won 3-0. And they can completely repeat this in the match taking place at home.
Human resources situation
Dani Olmo remains absent for Barcelona through injury, along with Inigo Martinez and Marc Bernal. Fermin Lopez scored twice against Valencia and could start after being benched in the Champions League. Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski will lead the line once again.
On the other side of the front line, Abdelkabir Abqar is suspended, while Antonio Sivera is ruled out due to injury. Kike Garcia remains the main striker in the visitors' attack, while Moussa Diarra retains his position in the heart of the defense.
Expected lineup:
Barcelona: Szczesny, Kounde, Cubarsi, Araujo, Balde, Pedri, Cassado, Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha, Lewandowski.
Alaves: Owono, Sanchez, Diarra, Abqar, Tenaglia, Benavidez, Guevarra, Conechny, Gundi, Vicente, Kike.
The match between Barcelona and Alaves takes place at 20:00 on February 2 (Vietnam time).
