Celta Vigo v Barcelona – Lineups, stats and preview

Match Preview

Barcelona will be looking to stay within reach of leaders Real Madrid but face a difficult assignment against an in-form Celta Vigo away from home.

The reigning LaLiga champions are currently five points adrift of their rivals, who are away at Rayo Vallecano, in the title race. That gap could be eight by the time they kick off at Celta and Hansi Flick will know they cannot afford many more slip-ups.

Only Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have lost less games than Celta (two) this season but it is draws which has prevented the hosts from being higher than their current 12th position.

They have, however, won their last five games in all competitions and will welcome the Catalan giants in confident mood.

Barcelona are looking to make it back-to-back victories in LaLiga since their 2-1 El Clasico defeat to Real Madrid but will be disappointed by their chaotic 3-3 draw with Club Brugge which seemed to sum up how they have been under Flick so far this term.

The Blaugrana have had no issues finding the net, scoring a league-leading 28 times overall, but they have also been poor defensively, shipping 13 goals in 11 games so far.

Despite criticisms of their style of play, Flick has doubled down on his approach, insisting it is in their “DNA” to prioritise attack over defence.

The German said: “We want to play to our DNA; we don’t want a low block and transitions to win 1-0, but [I accept] 3-3 is not the best result for us. We came back after every goal, though, this is positive, but we have to speak about this match.”

Celta Vigo vs Barcelona team news

Celta will be without Williot Swedberg and Javi Rueda due to injuries, while Hugo Alvarez and Ionut Andrei Radu are also sidelined. Radu’s hand injury means Ivan Villar is likely to start in goal, having featured in two of Celta’s last three matches.

Pablo Duran, who scored twice against Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League, is expected to drop to the bench to make way for Borja Iglesias to lead the attack.

Barcelona remain without Gavi (knee), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (back), Raphinha (hamstring) and Pedri (hamstring). Joan Garcia and Andreas Christensen could return to the squad after recovering from knee and calf injuries, respectively.

Eric Garcia is out with a suspected broken nose, so Pau Cubarsi is set to slot into central defence. Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo are nearing full fitness but are expected to start on the bench.

Celta Vigo vs Barcelona predicted lineups

Celta Vigo: Villar; Rodriguez, Starfelt, Alonso; Mingueza, Beltran, Moriba, Carreira; Jutgla, Iglesias, Zaragoza

Barcelona: Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Casado, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin, Rashford; Torres

Celta Vigo vs Barcelona stats

• Barcelona have won three of their last four meetings with Celta, including a 4-3 victory in their most recent clash in April.
• Celta hold a recent home win over Barcelona, having beaten them 2-1 in the 2022-23 La Liga season, and last season’s meeting in Vigo ended in a 2-2 draw.

How to watch Celta Vigo vs Barcelona

Celta Vigo vs Barcelona kicks off at 8pm UK time and will be available to watch on Premier Sports 2. You can subscribe through Sky, Virgin Media, or online via Premier Sports.