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The two Catalan teams will face a meeting with the Primera Division that could have been played in Miami
Barcelona will try to bounce back after losing 2-0 to Sevilla on Wednesday during the trip to Girona in La Liga.
It was suggested that the match could be played in Miami, but this discussion was dropped in December. It will take place at Estadi Montilivi's house in Girona.
Ernesto Valverde's players had won all three previous matches before the midweek setback, during which they had heavily rotated their team. If this pain needs to be justified, they just have to go out on Sunday.
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Girona also suffered midweek Copa del Rey's frustration with two late goals giving Real Madrid a 4-2 advantage in the first leg of their quarter-final match. Can they support this strong performance with another similar screen against the other Spanish club?
TV channel, live broadcast and how to watch
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on demand with fuboTV (7 day free trial).
New users can sign up for free for a seven-day trial on the live sports streaming service, accessible via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV, as well as on a web browser.
In the UK, the game will not be streamed via Eleven Sports 1.
| British television channel | Online feed |
|---|---|
| N / A | Eleven Sports 1 |
Squads and news from the team
| Position | Girona team |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Bono, Iraizoz |
| defenders | Juanpe, Espinosa, Muniesa, Ramalho, Alcala, Garcia, Porro |
| Midfielders | Pere Pons, Aleix Garcia, Granell, Douglas Luiz, Portu, Borja Garcia, Carnero |
| Before | Stuani, Lozano, Doumbia |
Girona has several problems of selection, Johan Mojica and Borja Garcia being the most remarkable among their absentees. Patrick Roberts, winger on loan from Manchester City, is sidelined alongside Aday Benitez.
Girona possible from the XI: Bono; Ramalho, Espinosa, Juanpe; Porro, Pons, Granell, Carnero; Portu, Lozano; Stuani
| Position | Barcelona team |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Ter Stegen, Cillessen |
| defenders | Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba, Miranda, Gonzalez, Chumi |
| Midfielders | Rakitic, Busquets, Vidal, Boateng, Arthur, Alena |
| Before | Messi, Suarez, Coutinho, Malcom |
After giving his marginalized players the chance to impress the Copa del Rey, Ernesto Valverde will unleash all the big guns once again against Girona.
He is still without Samuel Umtiti and Rafinha, while Ousmane Dembele will also miss this match because of a relatively minor ankle injury.
Barcelona possible from the XI: Ter Stegen; Roberto, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Arthur; Messi, Suarez, Coutinho
Barcelona is a big favorite to win, with a score of 2/7 at bet365. Girona has a long strike at 9/1, while the draw is at 5/1.
Click here to see more offers for the game, including goal markets, correct score predictions and more.
Match preview
Barcelona remains firmly in pole position to win the Liga, with a solid five-point advantage over Atletico Madrid, second.
However, they proved vulnerable at certain times of the season and this was evident as they lost 2-0 to Sevilla in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-final on Wednesday.
Head coach Ernesto Valverde chose to rotate his team, while Kevin-Prince Boateng made his debut in the center of the attack. Many Barca stars, such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, have been left on the bench or have been totally forgotten.
Valverde has not hesitated to place the league at the top of its priorities in peak periods.
"The month of January is the most complicated of all," he said, noting that his team played nine matches in 27 days. "The cut is important but getting points in the league is even more. And we must also think about the future of the Champions League.
"We have a lot of players and we should have enough to overcome these problems."
He will be happy that his team has avoided a long trip to Miami during this turbulent period, which was originally reported as the first game of La Liga to be played abroad. In the end, however, it was dropped in December due to a "lack of consensus".
Girona can therefore expect his opponents to compete with a full-fledged team on Sunday. For the small club north-east of Barcelona, it would be a test in the best case, but especially four days after a trip to Real Madrid.
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For a while, the Bernabeu seemed to be upset by Alexander Lozano, but Los Blancos went 4-2, gaining control of the game.
Like the Barca, they pivoted their team midweek, giving priority to their quest for survival for Primera Division. Twelfth in the standings and four points ahead of the drop zone, everything is going well so far.
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