Barcelona were crowned champions of Spain last season although they’re playing catch-up on Real Madrid and Girona right now. Although the weekend clash against the latter gives them an opportunity to close the gap and hope that their Clasico rivals slip up away to Real Betis, a defeat against tough opposition would put a dent in their title hopes.
Barca have been largely foot perfect at the Nou Camp, winning seven of their eight encounters and it was only Real Madrid who came away with a victory. However, there’s a fair amount of pressure on Xavi’s team to get a positive result here, with the team having been outshot by Atletico Madrid last weekend.
On that occasion, it was Joao Felix’s goal that heled the Catalan side to win this encounter and the Portuguese will now be bidding to score for the third game running. However, he could also be a yellow card magnet considering that there have been four consecutive bookings for the forward who is on loan from Atleti.
Girona’s only defeat of the season was a 3-0 home reverse at the hands of Real Madrid and the majority of the other fixtures have resulted in a victory. Interestingly, the past five encounters in all competitions have seen both teams find the net, with veteran forward Cristhian Stuani having bagged a brace against Valencia in the previous game.