With Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid not playing until Sunday, Barcelona can stretch their lead in La Liga to four points with a win against Osasuna at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Saturday night. The Catalans will also be aiming to enact revenge on Los Rojillos, who won 4-2 in the reverse fixture back in September.
On that occasion at El Sadar, Hansi Flick made significant changes amid a treacherous run of matches for his Barcelona side. It came back to bite him, but he is expected to do similar on Saturday, given that Tuesday’s Champions League round of 16 second leg against Osasuna is right around the corner.
According to sport, there will he changes in defence, midfield and attack. Inigo Martinez, Alejandro Balde, Frenkie de Jong and Robert Lewandowski are expected to drop out from the side that won 1-0 in Lisbon on Wednesday, with their replacements being Ronald Araujo, Gerard Martin, Marc Casado and Gavi – and this would see Dani Olmo playing in a false 9 role in the forward line, flanked by usual starters Lamine Yamal and Raphinha.
Osasuna arrive in the Catalan capital in dreadful form, having won only one of their last 14 La Liga matches, in a run that dates back to November. Vicente Moreno is determined to ease some of the pressure on him and his side with a positive result against Barcelona, and he aims to do that by employing a setup with five defenders. There is expected to be one change from the side that drew 3-3 with Valencia last weekend, with Jorge Herrando replacing the injured Aimar Oroz.
Barcelona are once again huge favourites to continue their impressive form in 2025, especially considering Osasuna’s wretched form. However, they cannot take anything for granted, especially with Bryan Zaragoza, who has been one of their nemeses in recent seasons, playing for Los Rojillos.
