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Saturday’s match is a collision course of sorts, as in-form SD Eibar welcomes FC Barcelona to the Basque Country for a late afternoon La Liga clash in which something's gotta give. Eibar, which is in 7th place and is 8–3–1 in its last 12 league games, will not only try and beat the league leading Catalans for the first time ever, but they will also be looking to put the brakes on Barça’s 30-game unbeaten streak, which is just one game shy of tying the Club’s all-time record.
See the full La Liga standings.
Who’s In & Who’s Out
After the team trained on Friday afternoon, manager Ernesto Valverde released the following squad list for Saturday's match:
1. Marc-André Ter Stegen
2. Nelson Semedo
3. Gerard Piqué
4. Ivan Rakitic
5. Sergio Busquets
6. Andrés Iniesta
9. Luis Suárez
10. Leo Messi
11. Ousmane Dembélé
13. Jasper Cillessen
14. Philippe Coutinho
15. Paulinho
18. Jordi Alba
19. Lucas Digne
20. Sergi Roberto
22. Aleix Vidal
23. Samuel Umtiti
24. Yerry Mina
Umtiti, Barça's French center back, returns to the fold after missing last weekend’s scoreless draw with Getafe due to a one-game suspension. Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen is missing through injury. The Spaniards Denis Suárez and Paco Alcácer, as well as the Portuguese midfielder André Gomes, are also left out.
Watch highlights of Friday’s final pre-Eibar training session
Form Guide
Eibar — L D D W W
Barça — W W D W D
Quotable
Valverde: "We need to know how to deal with Eibar's pressure in order to have opportunities. It's very difficult to play against them, they have a lot of pace" #FCBlive pic.twitter.com/iofxHjN5cM — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 16, 2018
Watch highlights of Ernesto Valverde's pre-game press conference.
Statistically Speaking
Barça is 25–5–0 in its last 30 La Liga games dating back to last season, and a win or draw at Eibar on Saturday would equal the Club’s best ever unbeaten run in La Liga — 31 games under Pep Guardiola in the 2010/11 season . . . Eibar, for its part, has only lost one of its last 12 La Liga games (8–3–1), a 1–0 home defeat to Atlético Madrid on January 13 . . . In fact, Eibar’s recent run is the third best in La Liga over that stretch, only behind Atlético and Barça . . . Nevertheless, since reaching the top flight three seasons ago, Eibar has lost all seven La Liga games against Barça, conceding 26 goals in total (3.7 per game) and only scoring in four of them . . . Barça’s latest win over Eibar came in Week 5 of this season, back on September 19, 2017, when Leo Messi scored four goals in a 6–1 Barça rout at Camp Nou . . . Speaking of Messi, the Argentinian maestro — who leads the league in scoring this season with 20 goals — has scored in all of his six games against Eibar in La Liga (12 goals in total) . . . In fact, Messi’s dozen goals are the most Eibar has surrendered to any player in the Basque side's three-and-a-half seasons in La Liga.
How to follow the game live
As always, Barça's match will be broadcast live around the world. We will also have live English play-by-play streamed on R@dioBarça. And social media users can get live updates on Barça's official Facebook and Twitter accounts, as the action unfolds.
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Spanish LaLiga
Teams: Eibar v FC Barcelona
Date: 17 February 2018
Venue: Ipurua
After two successive stalemates in LaLiga, FC Barcelona will be pushing for a return to winning ways when they lock horns with Eibar.
The match is scheduled to get underway at 17h15.
The Catalan giants have failed to secure victories in their last two LaLiga clash, having drawn with Espanyol and Getafe.
As a result, Barca are only seven points ahead of second place Atletico Madrid, who only play on Sunday.
Ernesto Valverde has no major injuries or suspensions to worry about for this afternoon's clash.
Eibar, meanwhile, have been in good form of late and come into the match on the back of two straight wins, which included a 5-1 hammering of Sevilla.
When thes two sides met at the Camp Nou earlier in the season, the Catalan giants ran out 6-1 winners on the night.
Here's how they line up:
Eibar: Dmitrovic, José Ángel, Arbilla, Ramis, Rubén Peña, Diop, Jordan, Dani García, Inui, Orellana, Kike García.
Barca: Ter Stegen; Alba, Umtiti, Piqué, Sergi Roberto; Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic, Paulinho; Messi, Suarez.
Who do you think will come out on top tonight? Have your say in the comment section below.
