Overview
Barcelona is showing superior form in La Liga this season when leading the standings with 79 points after 31 rounds, winning 26 matches, drawing 1 and losing only 4 matches.
The Catalan team is currently creating a 6-point gap with Real Madrid and playing 1 match less, thereby taking a big advantage before the final stage of the season. With what they are showing, it is very difficult to imagine that coach Hansi Flick's team will drop the championship from their current position.
Barcelona is aiming for their eighth consecutive victory in La Liga after just defeating Espanyol 4-1 in the Catalan derby. Despite being eliminated from the Champions League by Atletico Madrid, the Camp Nou team still shows stability in the domestic arena, and is expected to have a busy summer transfer window with plans to add a central defender and a quality center forward.
Recent encounters between Barcelona and Celta Vigo are also often exciting, when the Catalan team won 4-3 at home last season and continued to overcome their opponent 4-2 right at Vigo in the first leg this season.
In the opposite direction, Celta Vigo also just experienced great disappointment when they were eliminated from the Europa League by Freiburg with a total score of 1-6, making La Liga the only target for the rest of the season.
Coach Claudio Giraldez's team is currently ranked 6th, a position enough to participate in the Conference League, but only 2 points behind Real Betis in the top 5 race. Despite surprisingly losing 0-3 to bottom-ranked Real Oviedo in the most recent round, Celta still showed their spirit away from home when defeating Valencia 3-2 at Mestalla.
Statistics show that Celta has the third best away record in La Liga this season with 27 points after 15 matches, including 7 wins, 6 draws and only 2 defeats.
Notably, they once caused a shock when defeating Barcelona 2-1 away in May 2021, and Real Madrid will certainly expect the blue team to be able to repeat that feat in the upcoming match.
Personnel situation
Barcelona continues to suffer losses when Raphinha and Andreas Christensen have not been able to return due to injuries, while the case of Marc Bernal (ankle injury) still needs further testing.
In midfield, Frenkie de Jong is likely to play alongside Pedri in the starting lineup, while Pau Cubarsi may reappear in defense after missing the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against Atletico Madrid due to suspension.
In attack, Ferran Torres is scoring strongly after his impressive performance in the most recent match and is likely to continue to be given the opportunity to start instead of Robert Lewandowski. Besides, Dani Olmo is also facing a great opportunity to be in the starting lineup as he is maintaining stable form.
On the other side, Celta Vigo does not have the service of Miguel Roman, who will have to rest for the rest of the season after a broken leg injury, but in general the away team still possesses a fairly strong force. Borja Iglesias is having an effective season with 15 goals in all competitions and is almost certain to lead the attack.
In defense, Javi Rodriguez is ready to return after suspension, while Carl Starfelt is also expected to reappear after recovering from a back injury, bringing more certainty to Celta Vigo's defense system.
Expected lineup:
J. Garcia, Kounde, Cubarsi, E. Garcia, Cancelo, De Jong, Pedri, Yamal, Olmo, Fermin, Torres.
Celta Vigo: Radu, Alonso, Starfelt, Rodriguez, Carreira, Moriba, Vecino, Mingueza, Lopez, Iglesias, Jutgla.
The match between Barcelona and Celta Vigo takes place at 2:30 am on April 23rd (Vietnam time).
