Barça journey 50 miles up north for a tough Catalan Derby trying to keep high of the desk
FC Barcelona (1st, 44pts) vs Girona FC (eleventh, 21pts)*
*Factors and positions on the time of writing on Friday
Competitors/Spherical: 2022-23 La Liga, Matchday 19
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres (out)
Girona Outs & Doubts: Santiago Bueno, David López, Ibrahima Kébé, Reinier (out)
Date/Time: Saturday, January 28, 2023, 4.15pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 3.15pm GMT (UK), 10.15am ET, 7.15am PT (USA), 8.45pm IST (India)
Venue: Estadi Montilivi, Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz
VAR: Jose Luis Munuera Montero
The way to watch on TV: ESPN Deportes (USA), TSN 4 (Canada), Not Obtainable (UK, Spain), SuperSport (Nigeria), Sports18 (India), others
The way to watch on-line: ESPN+ (USA), LaLigaTV (UK), DAZN (Spain), others
Following a hard-fought win over Actual Sociedad to advance to the Copa del Rey semi-finals in midweek, Barcelona return to La Liga motion trying to full an ideal January once they make the quick journey up north for a Catalan Derby in opposition to Girona on Saturday afternoon on the Estadi Montilivi.
Together with the penalty shootout victory over Actual Betis within the Spanish Tremendous Cup, Barça have received each recreation they’ve performed to this point in 2023 and at the moment have a trophy, are three factors clear on the high of the league desk and are simply two video games away from one other Cup last. It’s been a really productive month outcomes clever, however the performances have been very inconsistent.
The easy reality is that Barça haven’t performed effectively sufficient the final two weeks, and with an enormous February with large video games in three completely different competitions in opposition to excellent groups forward the Blaugrana should step up their stage of collective and particular person play to proceed the nice run of outcomes as we march in the direction of the stretch run.
So the job in opposition to Girona shouldn't be solely to win however to start out planting the seeds of higher soccer, and Xavi Hernández may even must fastidiously handle his squad to have a powerful and contemporary staff heading into the February marathon. Rotations are wanted, however the squad is deep and wholesome sufficient to get a win even with backups.
However Girona have a really gifted group of younger gamers who've had a really strong season to this point and took two factors from Actual Madrid earlier this season. The factor about very younger and really gifted groups is that they’re not constant sufficient over a complete season however might be an absolute nightmare on any given day, and these sorts of groups often save their greatest for Barça, particularly on the street.
Montilivi is a small stadium however the crowd is near the pitch and might be very powerful to beat, and Barça should be at their greatest from minute one. With out Robert Lewandowski up entrance they’ll must be additional sharp with regards to changing their possibilities, and Xavi must have a great plan and handle the sport effectively.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Roberto, Araujo, Eric, Alba; Kessie, De Jong, Gavi; Raphinha, Fati, Dembélé
Girona (4-3-3): Gazzaniga; Martínez, Juanpe, Espinosa, Gutiérrez; García, Romeu, Herrera; Villa, Castellanos, Riquelme
PREDICTION
Girona have a legitimately good staff and can most likely confronted a weaker Barça aspect on account of rotations so this is not going to be straightforward, however I nonetheless anticipate the street staff to do the job as they at all times do below Xavi: 2-1 to the nice guys.
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