Barca’s ten La Liga victories at home to clubs ranked sixth or lower at the beginning of the round, seven have been accompanied by a massive 3 goal margin, whilst 55.88 per cent of their 34 goals scored in those ten wins (3.40 per game) have been recorded after HT.
FC Barcelona
Barcelona’s latest slip up against Levante has seen them earn just five La Liga points from the previous 12 available, in what is their most imperfect four-game La Liga period since the start of November. That 3-3 draw may end up being the result that put the nail in the coffin of Barça’s title challenge, and to further illustrate their recent erratic nature, the squad to score first has not won any of their previous five La Liga matches. Currently sporting their lowest points haul after 36 games across the previous decade, at least a return home to face lower-ranked opposition may prove fruitful. Of their ten La Liga victories at home to clubs ranked sixth or lower at the beginning of the round, seven have been accompanied by a massive 3 goal margin, whilst 55.88 per cent of their 34 goals scored in those ten wins (3.40 per game) have been recorded after HT.
Celta Vigo
A four-game winning streak has Celta Vigo making a late push for the European spots, which remains their best campaign since finishing sixth in 2015/16. Built on a solid foundation, Celta have now accumulated an impressive nine HT/FT doubles this La Liga season – albeit seven of them came at home. They have claimed a result at Barcelona in just two of nine competitive visits since 2012/13, though, suffering five losses of a 3 goal margin. In fact, strong showings against other top-six contenders have been few, and they lament a record against clubs placed above them at the start of the round, accompanied by an average losing margin of 2.10 goals.
Lionel Messi has opened the scoring in six of his last 14 La Liga appearances. Meanwhile, during the week, Nolito notched up his fifth opening team goal for Celta this La Liga campaign.
Celta have collected the most total cards in eight of their last nine La Liga away trips.