Celta Vigo vs Barcelona, La Liga: Team News, Match Preview, How to Watch

Celta Vigo (16th, 11pts) vs FC Barcelona (9th, 16pts)*

*Points and positions at the time of writing on Friday

Competition/Round: 2021-22 La Liga, Matchday 13

Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Pedri, Gerard Piqué, Sergiño Dest, Sergio Agüero, Ousmane Dembélé, Sergi Roberto, Martin Braithwaite, Neto (out)

Celta Vigo Outs & Doubts: Santi Mina, Brais Méndez (out)

Date/Time: Saturday, November 6, 2021, 4.15pm CET (Barcelona), 3.15pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 11.15am ET, 8.15am PT (USA), 8.45pm IST (India)

Venue: Estadio de Balaídos, Vigo, Spain

Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández

VAR: José Luis González González

How to watch on TV: Not Available (USA), TSN 2 (Canada), LaLigaTV (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), MTV (India), Movistar LaLiga (Spain), others

How to watch online: ESPN+ (USA), LaLigaTV (UK), others

Following a crucial victory over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League in midweek, Barcelona return to action in La Liga for the final match before the November international break as they travel to Balaídos to face Celta Vigo.

This will be the last match in charge for interim manager Sergi Barjuan, since Barça are expected to announce Xavi Hernández as the new first team head coach on Saturday. Barjuan has done a solid job so far, getting the team to play more attacking football and getting a very important result in Europe.

But the draw against Alavés in Barjuan’s first game in charge was a bad result from which the Blaugrana must recover quickly. Unfortunately they have to play Celta Vigo away, and in recent years this has been a guaranteed tough game in which Barça struggle and usually drop points. Iago Aspas turns into Lionel Messi against the Blaugrana defense, and the Galicians always seem to come from behind to draw 2-2 somehow.

Barça will also be missing eight first team players due to injury and the team will be tired after a tough game in Ukraine, so the potential for another disappointing result is very much there. No matter how badly Celta have played this season, they always raise their game when the big boys come to Balaídos and will make it very tough for the Catalans.

Xavi will only take over after the international break, but it’d surely be a good idea to impress the new boss with a win on Saturday against a tough opponent in a tough environment. Let’s dance.

POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Mingueza, García, Araujo, Alba; Nico, Busquets, De Jong; Gavi, Memphis, Fati

Celta Vigo (4-1-3-2): Dituro; Mallo, Murillo, Araújo, Galán; Tapia; Beltrán, Denis, Nolito; Aspas, Solari

PREDICTION

I am quite confident ahead of a trip to Balaídos. Is something wrong with me? 2-0 Barça.