Barcelonavs.Osasuna

The original fixture was postponed following the death of Barcelona's club doctor Carles Minarro Garcia, before the two teams failed with their appeals against the March 27 date due to their concerns about the fixture's proximity to the international window.

Match preview

Barcelona are still in the hunt to add three more trophies to the Spanish Super Cup they won in January, having put together an 18-match unbeaten run in all competitions since beating Atletico Madrid in December (W15, D3).

The Blaugrana were involved in an important run of fixtures before the international window, beginning with an entertaining 4-4 draw against Atletico in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie.

They went on to score four without reply in a dominant La Liga display against Real Sociedad, before they recorded a 4-2 aggregate victory over Benfica to set up a Champions League quarter-final clash against last season's runners-up Borussia Dortmund.

Hansi Flick's charges then fought back from two goals down to clinch a dramatic 4-2 away victory over Atletico before the international break, moving them four points clear of Diego Simeone's side to leave them level with Real Madrid at the top of the standings.

With Thursday's fixture representing Barcelona's game in hand, the leaders will be looking to claim an eighth consecutive league win to establish a three-point lead at the top in their bid to win the league title for the second time in three seasons.

Encouragingly for the hosts, they have won their last four home La Liga matches against Osasuna by a combined 10-0 scoreline, including a narrow 1-0 win in their most recent home encounter in January 2024.

The international break may have come at the right time for Osasuna because it gave them the chance to reset following a six-game winless run in all competitions.

That underwhelming run of form began with a Copa del Rey defeat against Real Sociedad, before they drew back-to-back league matches against Mallorca and Real Madrid.

Instead of building upon their hard-fought point against Los Blancos, Osasuna went on to lose to Celta Vigo and Getafe on either side of a 3-3 draw with Valencia.

They would have been particularly disappointed with the loss against Getafe, considering they gave up a half-time lead to fall to a narrow 2-1 defeat, leaving them in 14th place and nervously looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone.

While they have a six-point buffer to the bottom three, Vicente Moreno will be aware that he needs to spark an upturn in fortunes to alleviate the pressure building on his shoulders, although matters do not get any easier with two difficult away fixtures against Barcelona and Athletic Club.

Los Rojillos have not beaten Barcelona in an away game since July 2020, but they may be able to take some confidence from the 4-2 victory they recorded in September's reverse fixture, which came courtesy of an Ante Budimir brace, a Bryan Zaragoza effort and a late Abel Bretones strike.

Barcelona La Liga form:

W

W

W

W

W

W

Barcelona form (all competitions):

W

D

W

W

W

W

Osasuna La Liga form:

W

D

D

L

D

L

Osasuna form (all competitions):

L

D

D

L

D

L

Team News

Barcelona remain without goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and midfielder Marc Bernal, while Marc Casado is set to miss the rest of the season after he sustained a knee injury in the 4-2 win over Atletico Madrid before the international break.

Inigo Martinez has returned to training and is expected to be fit after recovering from a knee problem which forced him to withdraw from the Spain squad.

Pau Cubarsi picked up an ankle injury in the first leg of Spain's UEFA Nations League quarter-final against the Netherlands, and the young defender is now in a race against time to be ready for Thursday's fixture.

Ronald Araujo and Raphinha are representing Uruguay and Brazil on Tuesday evening, and while they could feature in Thursday's squad, they are not expected to start against Osasuna.

As for the visitors, they could be without the services of Bayern Munich loanee Zaragoza, who was forced off in the closing stages against Getafe with an injury.

Enzo Boyomo is expected to arrive back in Spain on Wednesday following his international commitments with Cameroon, meaning there is some doubt as to whether he will be ready to start against Barcelona.

Jorge Herrando could partner Alejandro Catena in central defence if Osasuna decide against risking Boyomo from the first whistle.

Midfielder Lucas Torro will serve a one-match suspension after picking up his 10th yellow card of the season in the defeat to Getafe.

Barcelona possible starting lineup:

Szczesny; Kounde, Garcia, Martinez, Balde; Pedri, De Jong, Olmo; Yamal, Fermin, Lewandowski

Osasuna possible starting lineup:

Herrera; Areso, Catena, Herrando, Cruz; Moncayola, Ibanez, Oroz; Ru. Garcia, Gomez, Budimir

We say: Barcelona 3-1 Osasuna

Both teams will have to put their frustration about the date of the rearranged fixture to one side, as they look to make a positive return to league action following the international window.

Written by

Ben Sully

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