Our prediction for this Primera Division match:
Following three consecutive league defeats, Almeria will look to give fans some cheer when they face Barcelona on Matchday 23. The Andalusians suffered a dip in form, and, as a result, their La Liga status is in great danger. Rubi’s men are desperate to grab something from Sunday’s clash, but they will have a mountain to climb against the league leaders. Both Ramazani and Toure are pushing for a start after getting their names on the scoresheet in a 6-2 loss to Girona, whilst defender Alejandro Pozo remains in the recovery room.
The Catalan giants, on the other hand, defeated Cadiz 2-0 to move one step closer to regaining the La Liga trophy, and given Almeria’s shaky defence, anything but a routine away win would be a big surprise. Pedri remains in the recovery room, but pacey winger Ousmane Dembele should recover in time to face los Rojiblancos.
Highlighted Player (Robert Lewandowski):
After scoring 36 goals in 59 league games for Znicz Pruskow, Robert Lewandowski joined Lech Poznan in June, 2008. The 184-cm-tall attacker scored 18 goals in 28 appearances for the club in the 2009/2010 Ekstraklasa campaign and during the season he was on Borussia Dortmund’s radar.
The Polish forward signed a four-year deal with the Bundesliga side in June, 2010 and he quickly established himself as the team’s key attacker. Lewandowski was producing excellent performances with the Millionaires between 2010 and 2014 and it has to be noted that he won two Bundesliga trophies with the club (2010/2011, 2011/2012). He participated in the 2012/2013 Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund, but the Millionaires were beaten by fellow Bundesliga side Bayern Munich in the title game.
However, he betrayed Borussia Dortmund fans in 2014 as he signed a four-year deal with the Bundesliga giants. Lewandowski impressed in the 2016/2017 Bundesliga campaign as he scored 30 goals in 32 league games for Pep Guardiola’s troops. The Polish footballer represented his homeland at Euro 2016 in France and he scored one goal at the showpiece tournament in France.
Highlighted Team (Almeria):
UD Almeria is a Spanish club based in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Los Rojiblancos are one of the newer additions to the Spanish football system, with the club being founded on July 26, 1989.
Almeria suffered relegation to Segunda Division in the 2014/15 season, and they have been competing in the Spanish second tier ever since. Los Rojiblancos are well known for their white shirts with red stripes, while blue is the dominant colour of their away jersey. Sofiane Feghouli, Felipe Melo, Diego Alves, Veljko Paunovic, Aleix Vidal, Alvaro Negredo, Tomer Hemed, and Mate Bilic are some notable footballers who played for Almeria in the past. Fellow Andalusian clubs Sevilla, Malaga, and Granada are considered the club’s fiercest rivals.
The club’s biggest success in Copa del Rey came in the 2010/11 season when they made it to the semis of the prestigious competition. Nonetheless, Catalan giants Barcelona proved to be a big catch for Almeria in the Spanish Cup semi-finals.