Barcelona vs Deportivo Alaves

Fresh from sacking the now ex-manager Ronald Koeman, Barcelona will be looking to fight their way back into the La Liga title race starting with their meeting with Deportivo Alaves at Camp Nou.

Memphis Depay’s missed penalty that led to Barcelona’s first La Liga loss to Rayo Vallecano in nearly two decades put the final nail in Ronald Koeman’s coffin. With the Catalans heading into proceedings having lost their last two top-flight matches, including a 2-1 home defeat to Real Madrid, it will be up to the interim manager Sergi Barjuan to steer the side away from a severe crisis. The ‘Blaugrana’ have beaten Alaves in eight of their last nine La Liga H2Hs (D1), scoring an average of 3.33 goals per match in that sequence. But based on their showings in the post-Lionel Messi era, that H2H record may have no meaning here, especially considering Barca have netted under 1.5 goals in five of their last six matches in all competitions.

In the meantime, the visitors’ desperate attempt to avoid another scary season has seen them go from a brace of 1-0 losses to Athletic Bilbao and Betis to a pair of victories ‘to nil’ over Cadiz and Elche. Deportivo Alaves’ defiant form of late has seen them get out of the relegation territory, though a slender one-point lead over 18th-placed Cadiz means any slip-up here could take them back to the drop zone. Additionally, the abovementioned run of triumphs puts ‘El Glorioso’ in a unique situation to pursue three consecutive La Liga triumphs without conceding for only the third time in their top-flight history. Any kind of victory, though, would see Alaves win three La Liga fixtures on the trot for the first time in three years, while they are targeting their first league success at Camp Nou since September 2016 – four defeats for them here since.