Granada, the reigning champions of the second division, are ready to welcome Barcelona, the current true kings of Spain. Following their unprecedented champions league victory in Portugal, the Catalan giants will be gearing to go into the international break on a positive note. As of this moment, they're the only unbeaten team in Europe! How long will that continue? Well, Granada may have something to say.
The Andalusians haven't had the best start to the top flight, having accrued only 5 points so far, with 1 win, 2 draws and 5 defeats. The spunk that earned them the title in La Liga hypermotion last season has been lacking, or maybe they'll have to dig deeper as the stakes are higher. No bigger stake than hosting the reigning champions of La Liga.
INTERESTING STATS
- Barcelona have won 15 out of their last 20 matches against Granada who have only managed two wins.
- Barcelona are the only team unbeaten team in the league so far.
- Granada have been unbeaten in their last three matches against Xavi’s team. They have won one and drawn the other two games. It is their longest unbeaten run against Barcelona in the league.
- The Catalan giants have the best attack in the league with 19 goals scored in eight outings.
- Granada have been winless in their last five outings in La Liga.
Last five meetings
08/01/22 Granada 1-1 Barça
20/09/21 Barça 1-1 Granada
29/04/21 Barça 1-2 Granada
03/02/21 (CDR) Granada 3-5 Barça
09/01/21 Granada 0-4 Barça
TEAM NEWS
Granada
Jesus Vallejo, on loan from Real Madrid, remains the only absentee for the home side.
Andre Ferreira will be in goal. Ricard Sanchez and Carlos Neva will start out wide as the full-backs. In the heart of the defence, Ignasi Miquel will pair up with Raúl Torrente.
Jose Callejon, Sergio Ruiz, former Barcelona man Gerard Gumbau and Bryan Zaragoza will form.a compact midfield. Sergio Ruiz and Gerard Gumbau will be in a more central role. Up top, Lucas Boye will pair with Myrto Uzuni.
Barcelona
Xavi lost Robert Lewandowski to ankle injury during the first half against Porto. He joins Pedri, Frenkie DeJong and Raphinha on the sidelines.
Marc Andre TerStegen will continue in goal, with Cancelo and Balde continuing as fullbacks. Christensen sat out the game against Porto and may feature as a CB, or DM, if the recent whispers have any weight. Jules Koundé and Ronald Araujo worked really well midweek and may continue here.
Gavi and Gündoğan will continue in midfield, with Fermin Lopez having a huge chance to start ahead of Oriol Romeu. Marc Casadó was called up to beef up the bench alongside Sergi Roberto.
Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and João Felix are the only available first team forwards at the moment, so Marc Guiu, who scored in the UEFA youth league a few days ago and Pau Victor were also called up.
What time does Granada vs Barcelona kick-off?
Location: Granada, Spain
Stadium: Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes
Date: Sunday 8 October
Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT
Referee: Cesar Soto Grado
VAR: TBD
Granada have troubled Barça a bit in recent past, but that was a different time. Things have changed radically since then and Barça will ensure they make no mistake in getting those 3 points.