Barça vs Osasuna: Preview

Photo by Mateo Villalba/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Barça play their final home game of the season looking to do their job and hoping for a miracle

FC Barcelona (2nd, 79pts) vs CA Osasuna (11th, 48pts)

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Competition/Round: 2019-20 La Liga, Matchday 37

Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Antoine Griezmann, Samuel Umtiti, Ousmane Dembélé (out)

Osasuna Outs & Doubts: Chimy Ávila, Marc Cardona (out), Robert Ibáñez, Unai García, Rubén García (doubt)

Date/Time: Thursday, July 16, 2020, 9pm CET (Barcelona), 8pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 12.30am IST (India, Friday)

Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Referee: José María Sánchez Martínez

How to watch on TV: beIN SPORTS (USA & Canada), Movistar LaLiga 1 (Spain), Not Available (India), others

How to stream: fuboTV (USA), beIN SPORTS CONNECT (USA & Canada), Premier Player (UK), Facebook Live (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others

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Following a hard-fought one-goal win away to Real Valladolid at the weekend, two-time defending La Liga champions Barcelona return to action for their final home game of the league season when they welcome Osasuna to the Greatest Stadium on Earth.

All ten games in Matchday 37 will kickoff at the same time, and Real Madrid will be champions with a victory over Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabéu. It doesn’t matter what Barça do if Madrid get three points, but the Blaugrana can certainly apply some pressure on their rivals by dispatching Osasuna early and hoping that the Yellow Submarine is able to put up a good fight in the Spanish capital.

The truth is there’s a huge probability that Madrid will win the title on Thursday night, so all Barça can do is win their game and play as well as possible to finish the title race with dignity and provide hope for what will become their only chance at a trophy this season: the Champions League in August.

Losing La Liga isn’t something Barça fans are used to over the last decade, so it’s a good idea to prepare for a sad, painful night. But all we can do is hope for the best, and the title race isn’t over yet. Until then, we keep fighting. And we keep supporting Barça. Forever.

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POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Roberto, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Puig; Messi, Suárez, Ansu Fati

Osasuna (3-4-3): Herrera; García, Navas, Aridane; Vidal, Moncayola, Mérida, Lato; Arnáiz, Gallego, Barja

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PREDICTION

A lot of what happens in this match will be dictated by what happens in Madrid, but I still expect Barça to start strong and eventually slow down if and when Real wrap up the title in their game: 2-0 to the home team and a brace for Messi.

Source: barcablaugranes.com