Three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Valencia | La Liga GW 21 | OneFootball

The script for Barcelona’s win over Benfica was otherworldly as the Catalans came back from a 4-2 deficit to win 5-4 in under half an hour.

Indeed, the Blaugrana made several errors on the night and were far from their best across the field. Yet, the win was a statement that they do know how to grind out unpleasant wins and that is massive for the team.

Tomorrow night, they return to the field in La Liga where they host Valencia at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

Their opponents on the night are currently struggling in La Liga and are placed 19th on the leaderboard, only ahead of Real Valladolid. However, they have won three of their last four games and enter the clash in decent form.

Barça Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Valencia.

The first of the doubleheader

Barcelona will indeed take on Valencia tomorrow in La Liga as part of Matchday 21, but it will only be the first of two meetings between the two sides in the coming weeks.

While the league fixture between the two Spanish giants has been fixed for months, they drew each other in the Copa del Rey quarterfinal earlier this week and will thus lock horns once again in the cup very soon.

Tomorrow’s clash against Valencia will be at Montjuic, giving Barcelona the home advantage as they look to crawl back into the title race.

Winning with momentum, however, will be critical as they face off again in the first week of February at Mestalla in the Copa del Rey and the confidence they garner in tomorrow’s home clash will be the driving force for the crucial away game next month.

Earlier this season, Barcelona took home a 2-1 win over Valencia at Mestalla with a brace from Robert Lewandowski giving the team three points. They will look to do the same tomorrow and assert their dominance for the double-header with a bigger margin of victory.

Rotations planned

Rest for Pedri and Gavi? (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Hansi Flick’s men have been playing close to two games per week for over 20 days now and the schedule shows no signs of slowing down.

In fact, the next time Barcelona get a week off between two games is only after the clash against Sevilla on the 10th of February and the Blaugrana have four games to deal with before that break.

The manager will thus look to start implementing key rotations in the coming games and it will start tomorrow against Valencia as indicated by Flick in his pre-game press conference.

For starters, the coach pointed out that Pedri may start from the bench against Valencia because the team needs fresh legs. It could thus be Marc Casado who starts alongside Frenkie de Jong, who has impressed in recent games with his cameos.

The third player in midfield may well continue to be Gavi, but it will not be surprising to see Fermin Lopez earn a start as part of Flick’s rotations.

The German coach will also look to rotate in defence, albeit in control, and Gerard Martin and Eric Garcia may get starts on the night. No changes are expected in the forward trio given the team’s pressing need for a win.

Urgency in La Liga

Barcelona have just not been at it in La Liga. Their tremendous form in the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey has not carried into the league and the standings are now worrying.

Real Madrid have taken complete control of the leaderboard and sit on 46 points after 20 games, a staggering seven points ahead of Barcelona.

The Catalans have been playing the better football, but their inability to convert it into points in La Liga has hurt them badly. Already seven points behind, it is crucial that they find their footing once more.

Having drawn against Getafe and dropped points in their last league outing, Flick’s men will be determined to take three points tomorrow night and catch up with the leaders.

Atletico Madrid dropping points against Villarreal will only motivate them further, for a win tomorrow will take them to within three points of Diego Simeone’s side and possibly four points of the leaders should Los Blancos drop points.