PREVIEW: Eibar v FC Barcelona

Barça travel to Eibar looking for a victory to keep them in touch with the leaders and ahead of the chasing pack.

How to follow the game live

The match kicks off at 1.00pm CEST. A list of broadcasters can be found here plus kick-off times for the rest of the world.

The Rival

Stadium: Ipurua

Coach: Jose Luis Mendilibar

La Liga Record (2019/20): P8 W2 D3 L3 F10 A10 

Full LOWDOWN of Eibar here

Stats and facts

Barça are the team with most goals against Eibar (33), as well as having scored in each of the 10 La Liga matches against the Basque side.

Ernesto Valverde has only lost one of his 10 matches against Eibar as an opposition coach, and this came when he was in charge of Athletic Club back in August 2015 (2-0 at Ipurua).

Leo Messi has 15 goals in nine games against Eibar, and strike partner, Luis Suárez, has netted in each of his last six games against them.

Eibar coach, Jose Luis Mendilibar, has only won one of his 21 matches against FC Barcelona, way back in February 2012 as coach of Osasuna.

Eibar have won their last two league games at Ipurua, but you have to go back to December 2017 for the last time that they won three in a row.

Last time we met

Towards the end of last season, with the La Liga title already secured, Barça travelled to Ipurua and secured a 2-2 draw.

Former blaugrana, Marc Cucurella, opened the scoring on 20 minutes, before a Leo Messi double inside two minutes handed Barça the advantage.

Right on half-time, Pablo de Blasis equalised for the hosts, and that’s the way the game ended.

The squad

Ernesto Valverde named a 22 man squad for Saturday afternoon’s encounter.

The list is as follows: Ter Stegen, N. Semedo, I. Rakitic, Sergio, Todibo, Arthur, Suárez, Messi, Neto, Lenglet, Wague, Griezmann, Jordi Alba, Aleñá, S. Roberto, F. De Jong, Vidal, Umtiti, Junior, C. Pérez, Ansu Fati and Arnau Tenas. 

Junior and Umtiti have travelled without medical clearance, whilst Dembélé and Piqué are missing through suspension.