In one of the most interesting encounters of the weekend, FC Barcelona and Villarreal face each other for matchday 15 of La Liga Santander. Both teams arrive at Estadio de la Cerámica after poor results in the Champions League: the yellow submarine comes from a 2-0 home defeat against Manchester United, while the Blaugrana wasted the first chance to qualify for the round of 16 due to a 0-0 draw with Benfica at Camp Nou.
After obtaining negative results, both Villarreal and Barcelona will try to recover in the domestic tournament in order to improve spirits and move out of the mid-table positions to aim for European competitions.
Possible FC Barcelona lineup
FC Barcelona managed to break the bad streak in the league after a 1-0 victory over Espanyol in the Catalan derby. Photo: FC Barcelona.
Xavi Hernández would repeat most of the lineup that played in the Champions League, adding Ousmane Dembélé from the start. The usual 4-3-3 will continue to be the main weapon of the Culé squad.
YOU CAN SEE: LaLiga Spanish matches TODAY: schedule and channels to watch matchday 15
- FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergiño Dest, Gerard Piqué, Eric García, Jordi Alba; Nico González, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie De Jong; Gavi, Memphis Depay and Ousmane Dembélé.
Possible Villarreal lineup
Villarreal comes to the match against FC Barcelona with 16 points in 13 matches played. Photo: Villarreal.
On the other hand, Unai Emery would make some changes to the lineup that played against Manchester United in order to protect the midfield from possession and the imbalance that Barça can generate.
- Gerónimo Rulli; Juan Foyth, Raúl Albiol, Pau Torres, Alfonso Pedraza; Dani Parejo, Étienne Capoue, Manu Trigueros; Yéremi Pino, Boulaye Dia and Samuel Chukwueze.