The lowdown on CA Osasuna
FC Barcelona face Osasuna in the fourth Liga fixture of the season this coming Sunday at 9pm CEST. Here's a closer look at the opposition.
Where are they from?
Osasuna are from the city of Pamplona, the largest city and capital of the region of Navarra. Known as Iruñea in the Basque language, the city of 209,000 people is best known internationally for the San Fermín festival in July, which features the famous ‘running of the bulls’.
History
The club was founded in 1920 out of a merger between two older clubs and its name means something like ‘health’ / ‘strength’ in the Basque language. Other than a brief period in the 1950s, when they finished as high as fifth in La Liga, they had spent most of their years in the lower divisions until returning to the top flight in 1980.
Since then they have been a more or less permanent fixture in the first division, usually finishing mid-table but occasionally making it into the UEFA Cup/Europa League, their best run coming in 2006/07 when they went all the way to the semi-finals.
They have also made it to the Copa del Rey final twice this century, losing to Real Betis in 2005 and to Real Madrid last season.
The stadium
Estadio El Sadar, known as the Reyno de Navarra from 2005 to 2011 holds 23,576 people and was built in 1967. It takes its name from a river that passes close to the ground.
Head to head
Barça have lost just one of their last 14 games with Osasuna, a shock home defeat in 2020. They have also lost just once in their last 13 visits to Pamplona in the league, that defeat coming back in the 2011/12 season with Pep Guardiola as coach.
On their last six visits they have won four times and drawn three times, with last season's fixture ending 2-1 with goals from Pedri and Raphinha.
Last five meetings (all La Liga)
02/05/23 Barça 1-0 Osasuna
08/11/22 Osasuna 1-2 Barça
13/03/22 Barça 4-0 Osasuna
12/12/22 Osasuna 2-2 Barça
06/03/21 Osasuna 0-2 Barça
Form guide
Osasuna haven't got off to a bad start at all, winning the two away matches they have played thus far, 2-0 at Celta and 2-1 in Valencia. In their opening league fixture they were beaten 2-0 by Athletic Club, but they have done enough to place sixth in the table.
But Osasuna go into this game just three days after a crunch UEFA Conference League qualifier against Club Bruges. They have a lot to work to do in Belgium after losing the first leg at home 2-1.
The players
Osasuna have strengthened their defence this season by bringing in Catena from Rayo Vallecano and speedy left back Mojica. Another interesting acquisition is Catalan forward Raúl García de Haro, who scored 19 goals for second division Mirandés last season.
International caps
Johan Mojica (Colombia, 22), Ante Budimir (Croatia, 17); Darko Brašanac (Serbia, 3); David García (Spain, 1)
Barça connections
Winger José Arnaiz played for Barça B in the 2017/18 season, and also featured for the first team in the early rounds of the Copa del Rey. He scored three goals in the competitions, and only needed three shots to do it! His only league appearance came when he replaced Sergi Roberto towards the end of a game with Levante. Since then, Arnaiz has played for Leganés, and joined Osasuna in the summer.
The boss
Jagoba Arrasate never played football at the highest level, but impressed as a coach at Real Sociedad, eventually taking over the first team in their Champions League season of 2013/14. He took the Osasuna job in 2018, originally just for one year, but after guiding the team back into the first division he has been there ever since.