Barcelona vs Real Valladolid preview

May 18, 2013
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Valladolid vs BarcaLa Liga title may be in the bag, but Barcelona will attempt to win the remaining games and finish the campaign on 100 points.

Real Valladolid gave Real Madrid a tough time at Santiago Bernabeu two weeks back and now plan to make life difficult for Barcelona as well.

Another season is coming to an end for the Catalans and club officials are in for a busy summer as they attempt to reinforce the squad for the 2013/2014 campaign.

While Barcelona did well to reclaim the league title, their European domination ended in the worst possible way, with the players still reeling from the 7-0 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich.

Tito Vilanova’s side have since defeated Real Betis and Atletico Madrid in the league and they should have an easy job against Real Valladolid.

Home win pays 1.30 (3/10) at William Hill, whereas the hosts are 2.25 (5/4) with Paddy Power to beat -2 Asian handicap.

Victor Valdes remains doubtful through a calf problem, while Lionel Messi is definitely out with a hamstring injury.

Adriano Correia, Daniel Alves and Eric Abidal are all carrying knocks, but they are expected to be in contention for the visit of Valladolid.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Pinto – Alves, Pique, Adriano, Alba – Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta – Pedro, Villa, Tello.

The mere fact Real Valladolid have clinched La Liga survival with three games to go speaks volumes about the achievements of Miroslav Djukic’s side.

From the very start to the season, Pucela proved they are not here only to make up the numbers, with their brave performances not going unnoticed.

Regardless of the opponents and circumstances, Valladolid continued to play attack-minded football, which has earned them quite a few neutral fans.

As a result they now sit much closer to top table positions than the bottom three, with home win over Deportivo effectively securing their La Liga status.

Pucela clearly cannot be expected to surprise Barcelona at Camp Nou, but having scored three goals against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, they are 1.70 (7/10) at Ladbrokes to score in this match as well.

The visitors will have Omar Ramos back from suspension, but full-back Antonio Rukavina will miss his first league game of the season after picking up fifth yellow card.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Jaime – Baraja, Rueda, Valiente, Balenziaga – Rubio, Perez – Ebert, Oscar, Ramos – Guerra.

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