Barcelona’s defence of their La Liga title will begin on Sunday evening, with the Catalan outfit making the trip to Coliseum Alfonso Perez to face Getafe.
Xavi’s side finished 10 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid at the top of the table last season, while Getafe ended the campaign down in 15th position, only narrowly avoiding relegation to the second tier.
Team News
Getafe
- Getafe will be missing Mauro Arambarri until the latter stages of the month due to an ankle injury, while Luis Milla and Enes Unal are also on the sidelines for the home side.
- Alderete and Portu could make their official debuts for the club this weekend, having been on loan last season, while the likes of Carmona and Lozano are also pushing to be involved from the first whistle.
- There should be a familiar look to the Getafe XI on Sunday, though, with Juanmi Latasa set to get the nod in the final third of the field alongside Portu and Jaime Mata.
Barcelona
- Barcelona, meanwhile, are expected to be able to call upon key defenders Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen despite recent injury concerns.
- Inigo Martinez, though, is still struggling with a foot problem and is expected to miss out this weekend.
- Gundogan should line up in central midfield for the away side, with Gavi potentially playing further forward on the opposite side to Raphinha, with Dembele on the verge of joining PSG.
- There will once again be pressure on Robert Lewandowski to score the goals this season, with the Poland international netting 33 times in all competitions during the 2022-23 campaign.
Possible Lineup
Getafe: Soria; Suarez, Mitrovic, Alderete, Angileri; Alena, Dakonam, Maksimovic; Portu, Latasa, Mata
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Pedri, De Jong, Gundogan; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Gavi
Prediction Analysis
There have not been many goals in the recent meetings between these two sides, and their last two fixtures in this stadium have finished 0-0. We are expecting Barcelona to navigate their way to all three points on the opening weekend, but it could be an uncomfortable match for Xavi’s side.
Our prediction is Getafe 0-1 Barcelona