Barcelona vs Malaga preview

February 20, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Malaga CF v FC Barcelona - La LigaIn-form Barcelona have the opportunity to put extra pressure on title rivals Real Madrid with a convincing triumph over Malaga and climb to the top of La Liga at least for a day.

Los Boquerones, on the other hand, are moving further away from European positions after losing last two matches and they have little to hope for ahead of the trip to Camp Nou.

Following some major changes to the playing squad, new boss Luis Enrique needed a while to get the maximum out of his side, but it is clear Barcelona are back to their best.

Even if many continue to criticise Luis Suarez for the lack of goals (4 in 14 matches), the Uruguayan is proving to be a very important part of the attacking trident that also includes superstars Leo Messi and Neymar.

With other areas in the team also in fine working order, the Catalans have been quite impressive on all fronts in the new year.

Since losing the first match of 2015 to Real Sociedad, Barcelona went on to win next 11 matches, scoring 42 and conceding just 8 goals in the process.

And with another comfortable win on the cards, you should know the Catalans are available at 2.88 (17/9) to win by four goals or more.

Luis Enrique is widely expected to rest some of his star men ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Manchester City, but Andres Iniesta could start after recovering from a bout of flu.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Bravo – Alves, Pique, Mathieu, Adriano – Iniesta, Mascherano, Xavi – Messi, Suarez, Pedro.

Taking into account everything that has happened at La Rosaleda over the past couple of years, Malaga fans can be perfectly happy with the team’s displays this season.

With fifteen games to go, los Boquerones sit pretty in seventh position and while they are unlikely to break into the top 6, the good news is they hold a six-point advantage over eighth-placed Espanyol in spite of the weekend’s defeat.

Following the 4-1 loss to Levante, Malaga were beaten at home by los Periquitos and they are now in danger of losing their third straight game.

Seeing as los Boquerones have lost four of their last five away matches in all competitions, we cannot really expect them to fare any better against red-hot Barcelona.

Key midfielder Ignacio Camacho and important attacker Nordin Amrabat return from suspension, but Sergio Sanchez, Flavio, Roberto Chen and Rafa de Vicente are out injured.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Kamerni – Rosales, Angeleri, Weligton, Boka – Camacho, Recio – Samu Sanchez, Juanmi, Samu Castillejo – Guerra.

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