Barcelona vs. Celta Vigo: Team News, Preview, Live Stream and TV Info
Barcelona play host to Celta Vigo on Saturday evening and will look to retain a one-point lead at La Liga's summit with a fifth successive league victory at the Camp Nou.
The league outing will be Barca manager Luis Enrique's first fixture since announcing he will step down from the position at the end of this season, and it will be interesting to see how his team reacts.
It just so happens Enrique will come up against Celta, the team he left in order to take up his role at the Camp Nou and who are enduring a torrid patch in form, having won just twice in their last eight games.
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Read on for all the latest team news surrounding both teams leading up to Saturday's duel, complete with all the essential viewing information and a match preview.
| Barcelona 6-1 Sporting Gijon | Celta Vigo 2-2 Espanyol |
| Atletico Madrid 1-2 Barcelona | Sporting Gijon 1-1 Celta Vigo |
| Barcelona 2-1 Leganes | Shakhtar Donetsk 0-1 Celta Vigo (Extra Time) |
| Paris Saint-Germain 4-0 Barcelona | Celta Vigo 3-0 Osasuna |
| Alaves 0-6 Barcelona | Celta Vigo 0-1 Shakhtar Donetsk |
Date: Saturday, March 4
Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT/2:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona
TV Info: Sky Sports 5 (UK), beIN Sports 3 (U.S.)
Team News
Defender Jeremy Mathieu looks to be the only fresh concern for Barcelona heading into Saturday's home clash, having suffered a sprained ankle in Sunday's valuable 2-1 away win at Atletico Madrid.
The club announced via their official website that the full extent of the injury remains unknown and further tests are to be completed, although it seems unlikely he'll be risked for the Week 26 outing.
That means Jordi Alba looks likely to stay at left-back while Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano take up roots as the centre-back pairing, although Samuel Umtiti is another candidate to start in central defence.
Meanwhile, Celta centre-back Andreu Fontas will be missing on Saturday after he was sent off in Wednesday's 2-2 draw against Espanyol, even though football writer Alexandra Johnson argued his second yellow was questionable:
Midfielder Pablo Hernandez will be the other major absence for manager Eduardo Berizzo after he suffered a calf strain in last weekend's 1-1 draw against Sporting Gijon, per Transfermarkt.
Preview
There's a fine chance Barcelona will come into Saturday's fixture playing a game of catch-up as dethroned leaders Real Madrid prepare to take on Eibar earlier on Saturday with a chance at reclaiming their place atop La Liga's perch.
The temptation now is to think Enrique's announcement to leave the club at the end of the season could disrupt their standards until then. Conversely, some will want to make these the most successful months of Enrique's tenure, which would be a tall order given his record up until now, as shown by German outlet DW Sports:
There's good reason to believe Celta are capable of pulling off a result against the Blaugrana this Saturday, too, after Yahoo's Andrew Gaffney pointed out the recent bad blood between the two sides:
Barca will be eager to attain some vengeance for the 4-3 defeat they suffered in their trip to the Estadio de Balaidos almost five months ago, where Celta star Iago Aspas inspired a mighty seven-goal result for the hosts.
Aspas will again be one of the danger men Barcelona will need to keep quiet if they're to have any chance of keeping Berizzo's men at bay on Saturday, while the hosts hope their defensive absences don't let them down on the night.
