HP Terbaru 2023 – Barcelona visit Villarreal for final fixture of 2025

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By Neel Shelat

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Match not being played in Miami after all

This was set to be one of the most controversial fixtures of the season as UEFA approved LaLiga’s plan to make it their first-ever match on foreign soil a couple of months ago, with Miami selected as the host city. This idea was received extremely negatively by the vast majority of those associated with Spanish football, with the players going as far as to protest in the subsequent round of fixtures by refusing to play for the first 15 seconds of all matches.

Supporter groups of both clubs were also strongly opposed to the match being held abroad. Ultimately, it only took a couple of weeks before the league and promoters announced the cancellation of the match in Miami, citing the uncertainty that had arisen.

However, there is every chance that they will try again. Just this week, Serie A confirmed their intention to go ahead with the Como-Milan match in Australia, so LaLiga may well be tempted to follow suit sometime soon.

Villarreal looking to stay in touching distance of the table-toppers

Villarreal have lost their last two matches in other competitions and are eight points behind their opponents in the league. Even so, they could announce their arrival in the title race with a win here because they have two games in hand.

Barcelona have won their last six matches in all competitions and are on a run of seven in La Liga, so they will be confident of going further clear at the top themselves.

Villarreal left light at the back

The visitors are only missing a couple of players for this fixture, but Villarreal are contending with a lot of absences for a couple of reasons. They are missing an entire back line in Juan Foyth, Logan Costa, Willy Kambwala, Santiago Mouriño and Sergi Cardona through injury. A couple of forwards including Gerard Moreno are out as well.

Furthermore, Thomas Partey’s injury coupled with Pape Gueye’s AFCON duty will weaken their midfield, while Ilias Akhomach is also off to Morocco and takes away an option on the wing.

Barcelona’s incredible record at La Cerámica

Barcelona should be glad that the match is going ahead in Villarreal because they are enjoying a great run of results at the Estadio de la Cerámica. The Blaugrana are unbeaten in this fixture since 2007, with a record of 13 wins and five draws since then. They have won in each of their last six visits, scoring a total of 19 goals across those games.

Prediction

Villarreal have some of the best defensive numbers in LaLiga, but their long injury list leaves them weakened at just the wrong time as they are set to face the best attack in the division. Marcelino’s side are quite good going forward as well, but Barcelona will be confident of comfortably outscoring their opponents.

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(Cover image from IMAGO)

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