Barcelona vs Real Valladolid

Barcelona’s quest to dethrone Real Madrid in La Liga continues at their temporary home ground of Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys as they meet newly-promoted Real Valladolid.

After a come-from-behind 2-1 win against Valencia on the opening weekend, inspired by Robert Lewandowski’s goals on either side of halftime, Barcelona had to fight from behind again to beat Rayo Vallecano last weekend. Hansi Flick’s men were 1-0 down at the break, yet Dani Olmo’s strike on his Blaugrana debut helped the Catalan powerhouse maintain a 100% league start with a 2-1 victory in Madrid. Interestingly, Barcelona’s only home league outing in 2024/25 also ended 2-1, with Los Blaugranas overcoming Athletic Bilbao on matchday two to make it four consecutive league wins on this ground. Another success is well on the cards, given Barcelona’s stellar run of 15 wins across their last 17 encounters against Valladolid (L2), including an emphatic 4-0 triumph in their most recent H2H in Catalonia.

Visiting Valladolid stuttered in midweek La Liga action, sharing the spoils with fellow newcomers Leganes in a tepid 0-0 home draw, completing a topsy-turvy three-game start to their comeback top-flight campaign (W1, D1, L1). The only loss came at the hands of Barcelona’s arch-rivals Real Madrid on matchday two (0-3), confirming attack as their weakest link. Manager Paulo Pezzolano cannot realistically hope to address Valladolid’s scoring issues this weekend, considering Los Pucelanos have drawn a blank on three of their last four La Liga visits to Barcelona (L4). Speaking of Valladolid’s unimpressive scoring capabilities, they’ve failed to get on the scoresheet in their last three away league matches, casting further doubt on their bid to upset the apple cart.