Following their humiliating Europa League elimination to Eintracht Frankfurt, Barcelona will return to domestic action on Monday, hosting a relegation-threatened Cádiz.
In the post-match press conference on Thursday, Xavi pointed out the lack of atmosphere seldom helped his team, with questions being asked as to how Frankfurt had so many supporters in the stadium.
It has been a remarkable turn of events domestically for Barça, who are unbeaten in 15 league outings. They have collected 37 points out of a possible 45 in that span, which is the most in the league. The Blaugrana find themselves second to Real Madrid, Los Blancos being hammered 4-0 in El Classico before the March international break.
In their most recent LaLiga match, they struggled against another side in the relegation zone, Levante. A Luuk de Jong goal in second half stoppage time propelled them to victory, despite conceding three penalties in the second half alone. Two were converted, with Ter Stegen denying Roger Martí on the second spot kick. Aubameyang and Pedri got the other goals for the Catalans.
Heading into this match, Barcelona will be without Pedri. It is feared that the 19-year-old will be out for the rest of the season, following a hamstring injury in their last match. Ansu Fati is also very unlikely to return, the winger still recuperating from his own injury issue.
Possible Barcelona XI:
Ter Stegen – Alves, Lenglet, Eric García, Jordi Alba – Busquets, De Jong, Gavi – Dembélé, Aubamayeng, Ferran.
Cádiz in relegation zone
Cádiz head into this one in 18th place, just a point from safety. The Andalusian outfit still have hope of a third successive campaign in the top flight for next season, and recent results suggest that such hopes are not impossible. Holding a 2-1-2 record in their last five, Sergi González’s side have gone toe-to-toe with Real Betis and Atlético Madrid in recent times, losing both matches 2-1.
They played the former last week, with Iván Alejo putting them in front with half an hour to go. However, goals from Cristian Tello and Borja Iglesias turned the tie around, leaving them with nothing in the end.
Varazdat Haroyan, Iza and Florin Andone will not travel to Catalonia through injury while Rubén Alcaraz will miss out due to yellow card accumulation.
Possible Cádiz XI:
Ledesma – Akapo, Chust, Hernández, Espino – Alejo, Mari, Fede, Idrissi – Negredo, Lucas Pérez
Kickoff gets underway at Camp Nou at 21:00 CEST.
