Following an extraordinary 3-3 draw away to Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday, FC Barcelona are once again playing away from home this Sunday at 9pm, this time in the domestic championship in the final round of matches before another break for international fixtures.

By the time the game starts, leaders Real Madrid will have completed their game away to local rivals Rayo Vallecano (Sunday 4.15pm), so Barça will already know whether this game presents an opportunity to narrow the 5-point gap at the top of the table, or whether anything but a win could widen the difference even further. In either case, there will be only one thing on Hansi Flick's mind. A win.

all about the game in our match center

Trouble at Balaídos

But Barça fans would be right to feel apprehensive about this one. Visits to Vigo have caused all kinds of problems for Barça in recent years.

The last ten games at Balaídos have only produced two blaugrana wins, with four of those matches ending in draws and Celta winning the other four. The only other ground where Barça have lost that many times in the last decade is the Santiago Bernabeu.

Hansi Flick's first experience of the fixture was as frustrating as so many others in the past. Barça looked to be heading for a comfortable win thanks to goals from Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, but things went pear-shaped after Marc Casadó was sent off in the 80th minute. Two late Celta goals and it all ended 2-2.

Amazing comeback

The return at the Estadi Olímpic produced a dramatic comeback in the other direction. Barça were 3-0 down after the first hour of play, before we were treated to an astonishing recovery. Four goals, capped by a Raphinha penalty in the eighth minute of injury time meant it all ended 4-3.

That extended Barça's unbeaten run against Celta to four games, a marked improvement on previous years and one that can hopefully be extended on Sunday.

Having Lewandowski back to full fitness is a huge boost for the Catalans. The Polish striker has scored five times in six meetings with the Galicians. But the man for whom this fixture really brings out the best will be on the opposing side. Iago Aspas has scored eleven times against Barça over the years, more than any other player has managed this century.

Celta finding form

It's been a strange season for Celta so far. They failed to win any of their first nine matches, but an amazing seven of those encounters ended with the exact same scoreline, 1-1. All those draws gave them enough points to stay away from the lowest positions in the table, and the last two outings have seen them finally pick up their first two wins, 3-2 at home to Osasuna and 2-1 away to Levante.

Of course, this season Celta have also been combining domestic football with the Europa League. A 2-1 loss at Stuttgart wasn't the best of starts, but since then they have won three out of three, against PAOK, Nice and then, last Thursday, 3-0 away to Dinamo Zagreb.

Barça's visit to Balaídos seems to have come at precisely the time that the sky-blues have finally found top gear. That's five wins in a row across all competitions (they also beat Puerto de Vega in the Copa del Rey), and eight games without defeat.

Team news

Barça, who will be looking to put an end to a run of nine games without keeping a single clean sheet, have goalkeeper Joan Garcia on the mend.

Gavi, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Raphinha and Pedri all remain unavailable, while Eric Garcia has been wearing a face-mask in training after damaging his nose against Brugge and is also a doubt.

The home side have a fair share of injury concerns too. Williot Swedberg, Javi Rueda, Hugo Álvarez, Ionut Andrei and goalkeeper Radu are all unlikely to feature on Sunday.

Hansi says

The Barça coach's pre-game press conference. 

 

Força Barça