Espanyol vs. Barcelona: Complete La Liga Preview

Barcelona head to Cornella-El Prat on Sunday night, the ground that saw their La Liga title confirmed two weekends ago.

City rivals Espanyol's 1-1 draw with Real Madrid ensured La Blaugrana became champions without having to kick a ball against Atletico Madrid the following night.

Neither Barca, as champions, nor Los Pericos, secure in mid-table, have much to play for, but when has that ever mattered in a derby?

Tito Vilanova's side still have an eye on reaching 100 points, while Espanyol, as demonstrated when Madrid came to town, are always motivated when they meet one of the league's big two.

The home side will perform a guard of honor for their visitors, but the Espanyol fans will turn their back on the gesture; a protest against a league which they feel is unfair on 18 of the 20 participants.

Team News

Espanyol will be without Sergio Tejera, the midfielder is banned following a booking in the defeat to Deportivo La Coruna last weekend.

They should be close to full strength other than that though, and Javier Aguirre will likely stick with the similar core which has seen them rise up the table since his appointment.

Tito Vilanova will once again be without the services of Lionel Messi and Carles Puyol.

Puyol isn't far from a comeback, but it doesn't seem likely he'll be risked with the league won, and Messi will probably not play again until next season.

 

Form 

Espanyol are desperately short of form recently, having switched off since securing their survival on the back of a marvelous run; when Aguirre arrived they were rock bottom.

They've lost three of their last four games, the only point they picked up coming at Cornella in a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid.

Barcelona have won three games in a row now in La Liga since the draw against Athletic Bilbao, which was sandwiched between the two losses to Bayern Munich.

 

Men to Watch

Joan Verdu is central to most of the good that Espanyol produce, and they will be keen to tie him down to a new contract this summer.

Playing as the central part of the triumvirate that supports Sergio Garcia—although he actually plays far deeper than others who play that role—he's industrious, creative and is the link to most attacks.

Without Lionel Messi, Barcelona will have to turn to other players to bring them derby glory this weekend.

Alexis Sanchez, who didn't feature last week against Real Valladolid, could return to the starting line up, and he if does he'll be keen to end the season by proving a point.

Last Time

Espanyol visited Camp Nou on the first Sunday after the winter break and were well beaten on the night. 

Four first-half goals killed off any hopes of a two-sided derby as Barcelona continued to gallop away at the top of the table.

Xavi Hernandes, Pedro Rodriguez (2) and Lionel Messi were all scorers on the night.

Predicted Teams: 

Espanyol: Kiko Casilla; Javi Lopez, Diego Colotto, Hector Moreno, Joan Capdevilla; Victor Sanchez, Juan Forlin; Christian Stuani, Joan Verdu, Mubarak Wakaso; Sergio Garcia

Barcelona: Victor Valdes; Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta; Pedro Rodriguez, Cesc Fabregas, Alexis Sanchez