Congratulations to the Catalan club, as FC Barcelona are now La Liga champions. The Blaugranes beat their arch-rivals, Real Madrid, at home last night to claim the league title. It was glorious for everyone on their touchline, but even more special for Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford, who scored the match and league clinching goal. There are still, however, three more matches this season after Sunday’s El Clasico, starting with Wednesday’s trip to Alaves. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha will miss out on this one while Andreas Christensen remains a doubt. So with that all said, let’s do the post-party team news!
FC Barcelona at Alaves
Kickoff: Wed. May 13, 9:30, Mendizorrotza, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
La Liga Standing, Form: Alaves 18th, 37 pts, DLWLD FC Barcelona 1st, Campeones!
Google Result Probability: Alaves 31% Draw 25% FC Barcelona 44%
FC Barcelona Team News
Yamal remains sidelined (hamstring injury) while he works on his rehabilitation, in hopes of being full go for Spain in the World Cup. Meanwhile Raphinha is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card yesterday. As for Christensen, he’s back in training, but after a long injury layoff (serious knee problem), he needs to be eased back into it.
These last three dead rubber matches provide the perfect opportunity for him to feature again before the season concludes.
And with the title now clinched, and nothing really left to play for, manager Hansi Flick will do some squad rotation here, as well in the last two games.
This match will see a lineup with major changes from what we saw in El Clasico on Sunday. On the other side, Alaves are playing for survival, as they’re currently in the drop zone. However, at the same time, they’re also only one point from safety, so they’ll certainly go full bore in this one.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.