Barcelona can go seven points on top of La Liga with a victory over Celta Vigo on Saturday afternoon. The Catalans saw their undefeated start until 2025 in midweek with a defeat against Borussia Dortmund who eventually did not matter when they went on to the semi-finals of the Champions League, but they will still be determined to bounce back from that disappointment.
Barcelona has been unbeaten in La Liga since December, and they will want to expand that streak against a Celta side that is exactly looking for European qualification. And because of the threat that they pose despite a poor record, Hansi Flick is not willing to take risks with his team selection.
According to the sport, Pedri and Inigo Martinez return to the starting line-up of the midweek defeat in Dortmund, while Flick seems to be going up with his “gala XI”, with the exception of injured left back Alejandro Bald.
Celta hopes to bounce back from last weekend's defeat to another Catalan team in Espanyol, but they will want to do this without the services of important defender Carl Starfelt, who sustained a hamstring injury at Balaidos. Carlos Dominguez is a likely replacement, because Captain and Talisman Iago Aspas are preparing to start a side of Barcelona that he has had great success in recent years.
It should be a very intriguing match-up at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Company. There is no doubt that Barcelona will be in the game as favorites, but Celta will try to make life difficult – and they also hope to take advantage of a possible vulnerability that went into Dortmund earlier this week. But that will still be said much easier than done.