Real Valladolid vs Barcelona Preview

La Liga resumes this Tuesday with Barcelona travelling to the Estadio José Zorrilla to face struggling Real Valladolid for their 36th league game of the season.

Valladolid’s struggles continued last Friday as they lost 2-0 to fellow strugglers Cadiz. That result kept them in the relegation zone ahead of this round.

Coach Paulo Pezzolano wants his side to “be prepared for what is coming and look ahead” as it seems increasingly likely that their season finale meeting with Getafe who they beat away earlier this season, could determine their fate.

They are currently level on points with 17th-placed Getafe and can move out of the drop, albeit temporarily, if they avoid defeat here.

But five defeats in a row won’t inspire confidence, while consecutive home losses don’t make for good reading. However, a run of just one defeat across six games (W3, D2) at the Estadio José Zorrilla before that ought to remind them that they were playing good football not so long ago.

Barcelona travel to the Estadio José Zorrilla after a disappointing 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad. That game was the first time Xavi’s men lost to Real Sociedad in a La Liga game for the first time since 1991.

The Barça boss didn’t find any reasons to be unhappy with his side after they “celebrated for practically the whole week”, instead declaring the club’s 27th top-flight title win was something they “will build on.”

Xavi won’t want his side to lose another game as they are preserving a record. The Camp Nou side haven’t lost a La Liga H2H since March 2014 (W7).

Meanwhile, three of Barca’s four league defeats this La Liga season have come on the road and their recent three-game away form (W1, D1, L1) has been anything but champion-worthy, meaning another upset can’t be ruled out altogether.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Spanish Primera Liga:

Spanish Primera Liga Table