Barcelona must win against Valencia if they want to stay in touch with Real Madrid, who defeated Real Valladolid on Saturday evening. The Catalans are currently 10 points adrift in the La Liga title race, so more slip-ups could see their hopes come to an end this early in the season.
Barcelona come into this match with just one win in their last eight La Liga games, and that terrible run needs to end as soon as possible. Hansi Flick is aiming for that to be the case, although it appears he is not planning to field his strongest side at the Estadi Olimpic, which he hinted at during his press conference.
As reported by Sport, several key players are expected to be rested for the match against Valencia. PaU Cubarsi, Marc Casado, Gavi and Robert Lewandowski are to be left on the bench of the side that won at Benfica in midweek, with Eric Garcia, Fenkie de Jong, Fermin Lopez and Ferran Torres coming into the team.
This would be a risk, especially considering Valencia come into this meeting on the back of three wins in their last five – the last of which was an impressive home victory against Real Sociedad. Carlos Corberan's side will arrive in Catalonia with confidence, although the head coach will be without the services of injured on-Loan Aston Villa midfielder Enzo Barrenechea. Fortunately, his replacement will be Pepelu, who is just as good – if not better.
This will be a very tough match for Barcelona, who have lost their last three La Liga matches. That streak needs to end as well, as if it doesn't, their title hopes would certainly be over. There will certainly be some nervousness on Flick's part ahead of this fixture, and Valencia will be hoping they can capitalize.
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