Barcelona vs Granada: Preview
Photo by Xavier Ballart/Urbanandsport /NurPhoto via Getty Images
Quique Setien’s first game in charge of the champions
Barcelona (2nd, 40 pts) vs Granada 10th, 27pts)*
*Points and positions at the time of writing
Competition/Round: 2019-20 La Liga, Matchday 20
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Marc-André ter Stegen (doubt), Arthur (doubt), Ousmane Dembélé (out), Luis Suarez (out), Frenkie de Jong (suspended)
Granda Outs & Doubts: Neyder Lozano, Fede Vico, Yangel Herrera, Quini, Neva.
Date/Time: Sunday, January 19th, 2019, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 3pm EST, 12pm PST (USA), 1:30am (Mon) IST (India)
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Live stream/TV info: beIN SPORTS (USA, Canada, Spain), Premier Sports (UK), others
Sunday sees a new era at Barcelona as Quique Setien takes charge of the club for the first time after replacing Ernesto Valverde as manager. The new boss has said all the right things this week, has got everyone excited by calling up Riqui Puig for first-team training and now is the time to see what the team can do out on the pitch under the 61-year-old.
Granada have been largely ignored in the build-up to this match due to the changes at the Camp Nou but did beat Barca 2-0 in September and face a visiting side without key players such as Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong.
Yet Barcelona are pretty formidable at home and should have more than enough quality to take all three points from their first home match of 2020.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Vidal, Busquets, Arthur; Messi Suarez, Fati
Granada (3-4-3): Silva; Sanchez, Duarte, Martinez; Diaz, Herrera, Gonalons, Neva; Puertas, Soldado, Machis
PREDICTION
Setien’s arrival at Barcelona has been a breath of fresh air and has brought the feelgood factor back to the champions. An attacking, creative approach is expected and should yield plenty of goals for the hosts: 4-1 Barça.
Source: barcablaugranes.com
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