Our prediction for this Primera Division match:
Buoyed by a 3-1 win over Alaves, Barcelona will be aiming to keep their title hopes alive when they take on Granada in the La Liga round 24. Barca are eyeing their third consecutive league win, but Xavi must warn his men against complacency. Youngster Vitor Roque serves a one-game ban, while all Ilkay Gundogan, Ferran Torres, Joao Felix, and Raphinha should miss out with injuries. Anyhow, Xavi still has a number of high-profile players to choose from.
The Andalusians, on the other hand, suffered a dip in form, with the team collecting only one point in total from the last four league matches. Granada have already suffered ten defeats on the road this season and we do not believe that they are capable of claiming a major scalp in the Primera Division round 24. Both Kamil Piatkowski and Gonzalo Villar are banned for the match for the visiting side.
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 (Granada):
Granada are an Andalusian football club that plays in Spanish La Liga. The club were founded on 14 April, 1931 and they have yet to win the Primera Division trophy. El Grana, though, booked their place in the Spanish Cup final in 1959, but Barcelona proved to be a big catch for the Andalusian outfit.
Granada host their rivals at Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes, the stadium that was built in 1995. The capacity of the stadium is 23,934. Granada’s main rivals are fellow Andalusian team Sevilla, but Real Betis are regarded as the club’s bitter rivals as well.
The likes of Yacine Brahimi, Juan Aguero, Gustavo Benitez, Pahinho, Denis Milar, Julio Montero Castillo, Capi, Cesar and Jose Mingorance are famous players that were part of the Estadio El Sadar outfit in the past. The original colour of Granada’s kits were blue and white, but after the Spanish Civil War the club chiefs bought new ones (red and white).