Barcelona vs Las Palmas, La Liga: Team News, Preview, Lineups, Score Prediction
FC Barcelona (2nd, 64pts) vs UD Las Palmas (11th, 37pts)*
*Standings at the time of writing
Competition/Round: 2023-24 La Liga, Matchday 30
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, Alejandro Balde (out), Andreas Christensen, Ferran Torres (doubt)
Las Palmas Outs & Doubts: Julián Araujo (out)
Date/Time: Saturday, March 30, 2024, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 4pm ET, 1pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Sunday)
Venue: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Montjuïc, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: Mateo Busquets Ferrer
VAR: Eduardo Prieto Iglesias
How to watch on TV: ESPN Deportes (USA), SuperSport (Nigeria), Sports18 (India), Movistar (Spain), others
How to watch online: ESPN+ (USA), LaLigaTV (UK), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Following the end of the final international break of the season and a couple of days of training in beautiful Catalonia, Barcelona return to action for the start of the stretch run as they welcome Las Palmas to the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium for some Saturday night La Liga fun.
Barça come into this one in excellent form after an impressive and crucial win away to Atlético Madrid two weeks ago, which brought Barça back to second place in the table and kept their remote title hopes alive. The Blaugrana get to play before leaders Real Madrid this weekend, and a win would cut Los Blancos’ lead at the top of the table to just five points before their huge clash against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
The Blaugrana must do their homework and hope for one or two slip-ups by their biggest rivals before the two meet in El Clásico in a few weeks, which could be one of the most consequential in recent memory and have real championship stakes for the first time in a while. But the Catalans cannot afford any mistakes on the road to that monster matchup at the Bernabéu, and winning this weekend is a must.
This is also the only game Barça will play before their giant trip to France for the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain, so a victory on Saturday would provide a nice confidence boost before the Catalans dedicate the following 10 days to prepare for the biggest game of the season.
The unexpected but welcome break in the schedule allows Xavi Hernández to pick his strongest team this weekend, and use the game against Las Palmas as a dress rehearsal of sorts before the trip to Paris. The first match after the international break is always tricky for Barça, who don’t usually play their best stuff after having most of their players away with their nations for a couple of weeks, so finding a way to get three points and reconnecting as a team again is the goal this weekend.
Their opponents will offer a good challenge too: Las Palmas are sitting comfortably in mid-table and have virtually guaranteed safety in their first season back in the top flight, and former Barça B manager García Pimienta is doing an excellent job with a squad filled with Barça academy products who play a possession-based, attacking style with a lot of intensity without the ball.
Las Palmas are winless in their last five and would love to upset Barça in the Catalan capital to restore the good vibes after a few tough weeks, and they’ll hope the Blaugrana will be looking ahead to Paris a little too much and not be fully focused on this one. But Barça know the importance of three points to stay alive in the title race and keep their spirits up going into the PSG tie, and if the best players are indeed involved then Barça will be favorites to win and continue their good run of results and performances.
Don’t take Las Palmas for granted, try to play as well as possible after the international break, and keep the wins coming. That’s the job this weekend.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Kounde, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Cancelo; Fermín, Gündogan, Roberto; Yamal, Lewandowski, Félix
Las Palmas (4-3-3): Vallés; Suárez, Coco, Mármol, Cardona; Rodríguez, Muñoz, Perrone; Munir, Sandro, Moleiro
PREDICTION
Barça almost always struggle after the international break, but they’re in good form and know how important winning this one is for all sorts of reasons. Las Palmas will make it tough, but I believe in the good guys to get all three points: 2-0 Barça.
