Barcelona must beat Real Valladolid on Saturday evening to prevent Real Madrid from clinching the LaLiga title as soon as Monday.
The defending champions put the pressure back on their fiercest rivals with a narrow win over Espanyol this week, although Zinedine Zidane’s in-form side quickly regained their four-point advantage with three games to go courtesy of a straightforward home win – their eighth in succession – over Alaves on Friday night.
With matches running out, a failure from Barcelona to overcome 14th-placed Valladolid at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla coupled with a win for Madrid at Granada 48 hours later would see Los Blancos seal their 34th LaLiga crown and first since the 2016-17 campaign.
Date, venue and kick-off time
Valladolid vs Barcelona will be held at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla on Saturday, July 11, with a kick-off time of 6:30pm BST.
In Pictures | Barcelona vs Espanyol | 08/07/2020
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Prediction: Valladolid 0-2 Barcelona
Barcelona’s patchy away form has arguably been the Achilles heel of their title defence, while against relegated rivals Espanyol they struggled to convert chances.
Nevertheless, Quique Setien’s men should be sufficiently motivated by a desire to delay Madrid’s title party against a Valladolid team that have won just twice in eight matches since the LaLiga restart.
How to watch
LaLiga will be available on Premier Sports with LaLigaTV for the rest of the season. To get access to all the games, customers should visit premiersports.com and register.
With games due to be shown on TV on Channel 435 on Sky, fans can also live stream the matches online via the Premier Player app.
Pre-match coverage will start at 6pm BST.
In Pictures | Barcelona vs Valladolid | 29/10/2019
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Team news
Ansu Fati is suspended for Barcelona, while the Juventus-bound Arthur Melo (tonsillitis) and Frenkie de Jong (calf) are both sidelined.
Samuel Umtiti is still missing with a knee injury and Ousmane Dembele remains a long-term absentee.
La Masia graduate Riqui Puig could be handed a start in midfield.
Barcelona matchday squad: Ter Stegen, N. Semedo, Piqué, I. Rakitic, Sergio, Suárez, Messi, Neto, Lenglet, Griezmann, Jordi Alba, Braithwaite, S. Roberto, Vidal, Junior, Riqui Puig, R. Araujo, Arnau
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Lionel Messi notched a brace in Barcelona’s 5-1 demolition of Valladolid at Camp Nou in October.
Barca won both of last season’s fixtures by a 1-0 scoreline.
Betting odds and tips
Valladolid to win: Between 10/1 and 11/1
Barcelona to win: 1/3
Draw: 9/2
Over 2.5 goals: 4/5
Lionel Messi to score first: 13/5
Odds courtesy of Betfair Exchange. Click here to find out more.
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More about:
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Real Valladolid
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Quique Setien
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laliga
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Estadio Jose Zorrilla