Barcelona will be offered plenty of opportunities to continue their strong start to the season over the next month, with games coming thick and fast for the La Liga champions.
Xavi’s side have made a strong start to the defence of their crown, while also managing a commanding 5-0 victory over Royal Antwerp in their first Champions League game, but there are some testing fixtures to come during the next few weeks.
Barcelona have four La Liga clashes and two European encounters in their next six, leading up to the first El Clasico of the season in late October against Real Madrid.
Here is a detailed look at Barcelona’s next six matches.
Barcelona take on Mallorca in their next La Liga affair and will relish the opportunity to face a favourable foe. The Catalonian side have won their last 11 games with their next opponents, scoring 35 and conceding just five in the process.
Mallorca have hardly set the world alight since the beginning of the season, so it should be a straightforward three points for Barcelona. They will, however, be missing Ansu Fati, the man who scored twice and registered an assist against Mallorca last campaign.
Barcelona did a pretty comfortable double over Sevilla last season, winning both encounters 3-0. Raphinha managed a goal home and away against them and he will be hopeful of grabbing another one or two in a week’s time.
Sevilla have made a disappointing start to the season under Jose Luis Mendilibar in the league, while also only managing a point against struggling Lens in their Champions League opener. The Europa League champions will be aiming for a surprise win over Barcelona for the first time since February 2021.
Having battered Royal Antwerp in their opening game of the group stage, Barcelona won’t have too many fears travelling to Porto. Admittedly, it’s a much stronger opponent in a fierce atmosphere, but the La Liga champions should have more than enough in the tank to get another win.
The two sides haven’t met since 2011 in the UEFA Super Cup, a game Barcelona won 2-0. Porto have won just one of their six previous clashes with Xavi’s side, a 3-1 win that did come at the Estadio do Drago back in 1985/86.
Somewhat surprisingly, Barcelona haven’t beaten Granada in their last three encounters. Both games finished 1-1 last season, with Granada winning the fixture prior to that 2-1 at Camp Nou.
You have to go back to the beginning of 2021 for Barcelona’s last win over Granada, a 4-0 win in which Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann grabbed a brace each. Xavi won’t be able to rely on them for the visit to Granada this time round, but does have the likes of Robert Lewandowski and the in-form Joao Felix to cause problems.
Athletic Club are always a difficult team to beat, but especially when they’re in such impressive form. The Basque side beat Deportivo Alaves 2-0 on Friday to take their points tally to 13 from six matches, only losing on the opening day against Real Madrid.
Barcelona did make light work of Athletic Club last season, however, winning both games without conceding. The home game was a commanding 4-0 win thanks to goals from Ousmane Dembele, Sergi Roberto, Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.
The hope for Athletic Club is that some of Barcelona’s players will be fatigued after the second international break of the season.
Barcelona will hope to have another three points in the bag by the time they welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to Catalonia. Regardless, they will be strong, strong favourites to get another European win at the end of October.
These two teams haven’t faced off since Barcelona won the Champions League back in the 2010/11 season, beating Shakhtar 6-1 on aggregate over two legs in the quarter-finals. The home tie finished 5-1 and Barcelona will be hopeful of emulating that scoreline once more.
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