Xavi suggested that one of the reasons for the spate of injuries that his team is suffering is the hectic fixture list. And here we go again. Just three days after FC Barcelona saw off Osasuna 1-0, the win decided by Vitor Roque's first goal for his new club, the Catalans will be taking to the field at Mendizorrotza, Vitoria, home of Alavés in a Saturday 6.30pm kick-off.
The three points earned on Wednesday were just the tonic to settle things at the club following a turbulent few days in the wake of the 5-3 home defeat to Villarreal and Xavi's announcement that he will be leaving at the end of the season.
As always, you'll find a complete guide to kick-off times and TV broadcasters here.
How things stand
Barça may have got their bit of the job done by beating Osasuna, but as long as Real Madrid keep winning too, the gap is not going to get any narrower. And that's exactly what the league leaders did on Thursday, 2-0 at Getafe, so the 10-point difference holds.
But Sunday at 9pm CET brings the Madrid derby. Atlético are the only side to have beaten the all-whites this season, although this time Diego Simeone and company won't have home advantage.
On the other hand, third-placed Atlético are a direct rival to Barça in another objective - making sure of a Champions League place next season. For the time being, that mission is on comfortable course, but Athletic Club are lurking just below in fifth, and have already picked up their points with a victory at home to Mallorca on Friday night.
Second placed Girona are home to Real Sociedad in Saturday's late kick-off at 9pm CET.
Team news
Just when it was feeling like Barça couldn't be any less fortunate with injuries, things did indeed get worse. With Gavi, Alejandro Balde, Marcos Alonso, Marc-André ter Stegen, Raphinha, Sergi Roberto and João Félix already side-lined, in-form striker Ferran Torres tore a ligament in his right hamstring against Osasuna, and his name has been added to the list of casualties.
It's not all bad news though because centre-back Iñigo Martinez, who has been out for two months with a similar injury, was declared back to full fitness on Friday and will be making the trip this weekend.
🚨 SQUAD LIST 🚨#AlavésBarça pic.twitter.com/0r7YAbAZIC
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 2, 2024
Did you know?
Alavés boss Luis García has faced Barça six times before with three different clubs (Getafe and Mallorca are the others). And he has lost every time.
No fewer than 32 different players have represented both clubs. The most recent examples are Bojan Krkic and Munir El Haddadi in the 2017/18 season, while the earliest was José Arana way back in 1934/35). Other illustrious names that have worn both shirts include Alexanco, Zubizarreta, Jordi Cruyff, Ernesto Valverde and Julio Salinas.
Alavés have one of the breakthrough players this season in Samu Omorodion, who has scored six times (plus one for his previous club Granada). Those included the one against Barça at the Estadi Olímpic. That's the highest tally for a player under 20 years of age since Pedri in 2022.
Xavi says
Alavés will be a difficult game against an intense, aggressive team" said Xavi in his pre-game conference. "They have a lot of personality, you can see that Luis Garcia is having an a hand in that. And they have hit their best form lately."