With their Europa League campaign dead and gone, Barcelona can now turn their attention to what's been the primary goal for some time this season: La Liga.
Having just being reminded of what it means of lose for the first time in about four months, Xavi's men know that the league is theirs for the taking and will want to quickly put those dark thoughts aside and concentrate on the mission at hand.
Their opponents, Almeria, were last season's second division winners and have the eighth best home record in the top flight this season, but they've endured a surly welcome back to the top flight and come into this game on the back of a 6-2 whiplash at the hands of Girona, and a game against the league leaders is probably far from ideal as an immediate follow up. They've been abysmal on away grounds, so their hopes of avoiding relegation rests on their performances on home turf.
INTERESTING STATS
- Since 2007, Barcelona and Almeria have locked horns 15 times across competitions. The visitors have been unbeaten so far and have come out on top 13 times.
- Barcelona have found the back of the net at least twice in their last ten meetings against Almeria.
- Barcelona have won their last seven league games against Almeria. And, they have kept a clean sheet on six of those occasions.
- The Catalan giants have won their last six away games in La Liga.
- Barcelona have the best defensive record in the league having conceded just seven goals in 22 outings.
Last five meetings
05/11/22 Barça 2-0 Almeria
08/04/15 Barça 4-0 Almería
08/11/14 Almería 1-2 Barça
02/03/14 Barça 4-1 Almería
28/09/13 Almería 0-2 Barça
TEAM NEWS
Almeria.
Midfielder Alejandro Pozo is the only notable absentee for head coach Rubi due to a muscle problem. He'll be expected to shuffle his lineup after the game at the Montilivi.
Arnau Puigmal, Largie Ramazani, Juan Brandariz and El Bilal Toure are expected to return to the starting eleven.
Barcelona
Pedri and Ousmane Dembele remain absent as they recover from muscle injuries. Ansu Fati suffered a knerle contusion in training and has been ruled out. Ronald Araujo is said to be fit enough for this game, and Gavi is expected to return to the starting XI.
With an El Clasico on the horizon, Xavi will be tempted to rotate a little bit. Marc Andre TerStegen remains untouchable. Jordi Alba, Marcos Alonso and Eric Garcia all have the potential to break into that backline. Ferran Torres has given a decent account of himself in recent times and deserves a start, alongside Raphinha and Lewandowski.
Where and when are Almeria vs Barcelona playing?
Location: Almeria, Spain
Stadium: Estadio Mediterraneo
Date: Sunday 26 February
Kick-off Time: 17:30 GMT / 12:30 ET / 09:30 PT, 18:30 🇳🇬
Referee: Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias
VAR: Jose Luis Gonzalez Gonzalez
Frankly, Almeria have been quite decent at home, so this might not be a walk in the park for Barcelona.
Or maybe it'll be, as the Catalans will want to go into the Copa del Rey Semi finals on the back of a convincing victory.
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