Barcelona vs. Almeria: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview

Anyway you slice it, it's inconceivable to think that Almeria could walk into Camp Nou and defeat Barcelona.

The Catalans have lost just once and drawn just once in all competitions at home this season. They are fresh off a surprising 3-1 loss to Real Sociedad last weekend, a game that dropped them to second place in the league behind Real Madrid. And, you know, they are dramatically more talented than Almeria, a team that has earned just 10 of a possible 39 points on the road this year.

But they play the games on the field, not in the first two paragraphs of previews, so let's break down this La Liga contest.

When: Sunday at 3 p.m. ET (8 p.m. GMT)

Where: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain

Watch: beIN Sports Play; Sky Sports 1 (U.K.)

Match Forecast: Barcelona (88.1 percent), Almeria (3.7 percent) and draw (8.2 percent), according to Bloomberg Sports

Key Storylines

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Barcelona is seeing its key performers return once more, as Jordi Alba has returned to training this week, according to Dermot Corrigan of ESPN, though Gerard Pique will miss Sunday's contest.

Meanwhile, after last week's loss, there have been no shortages of critiques for manager Gerardo Martino. But one player, Cesc Fabregas, publicly came forward to defend his coach. His comments to AS (via Corrigan):

"

Among the players there are no doubts about Martino. He found himself in a difficult situation when he came here. He had a squad already made. It is natural that we would give him our opinion.

He is humble and he would know if he has made a mistake or not. He has done what he thought right, although people were against him. That shows personality and I have been surprised by him. We are with him and the technical staff. When you do not win you have to be even more united than ever.

"

Only at Barcelona could one loss and a temporary trip to second place in the league (by just three points, mind you) be so catastrophic. And yet, Martino's future is very much in doubt. From Dermot Ledwith of ESPN:

"

The club has reached a crossroads in its campaign, and while the outcome of how the team does in three competitions has become a little clearer in the past few weeks, many big decisions regarding the long-term future are currently on hold.

The main debate is whether Martino wishes to continue next term; he has a contract until the end of next season, and the word is that the club wishes to extend that a further year. In his plus column, Martino has successfully guided the club to its fourth Spanish Cup final in four seasons, stayed top of the league all season until last week and beat Manchester City 2-0 in the away leg of the last 16 in the Champions League.

However, the 3-1 defeat at Real Sociedad on Saturday night has really put the cat among the pigeons as to what both Martino and the club really want to do next. It may be that the coach himself does not wish to remain in Spain; rumours spread by an Argentine journalist at Christmas said as much.

"

Of course, at some point the players also have to take responsibility for whatever happens on the pitch. This is a team with superstars the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar, Andres Iniesta, Fabregas, Xavi and Dani Alves. 

Few teams have more firepower. There isn't a club team in the world with more technical skill. Expectations deserve to be sky-high, yes, but maintaining the team's form shouldn't be a burden solely placed on the manager's shoulders. There is too much veteran talent on the roster for the players to shirk responsibility.

And then there is Almeria, a lightweight in La Liga for sure, but a lightweight that upset Atletico Madrid on Feb. 8, 2-0. Of course, that was the club's only win this month, making it an unlikely candidate to pull off another huge upset this month.

And the fact that Barcelona has scored 70 goals this season—second in La Liga—and Almeria has conceded 42 goals, 17th in the league, also doesn't bode well for the visitors.

In other words, despite Almeria's precedent as giant killers, side with them at your own risk in this game.

Prediction

You don't want to play Barca in general, you definitely don't want to play them at home and you never, ever, ever want to play them after they lost the previous week. Almeria is a dead club walking.

Expect the Catalans to make a statement in this game and for things to get pretty ugly, pretty quickly. Barcelona win, 5-0.