(Football news) Barcelona bounced back after the defeat at Rayo Vallecano with a win against Real Betis. Now they play 9th placed Osasuna at the Camp Nou in an attempt to go 14 points clear of Real Madrid. Barcelona are on course to a La Liga win with a significant point gap. However, the Blaugrana have had a few stumbles across the road.

Xavi will be hoping that his team can close the league in a dominant fashion. This is possibly Barcelona’s toughest game left alongside the away trip to Celta Vigo. Osasuna are having an incredible season as they are in the top half of the table and are also in the Copa Del Rey final. A win at the Camp Nou will be a great result to make an excellent season even better.

Ousmane Dembele and Andreas Christensen both returned in the game against Real Betis. Now Sergi Roberto is the only absentee and he could be out for the entire season. 15 year old La Masia product Lamine Yamal played 7 minutes on the weekend and was very impressive. He may get to play more minutes in this game especially if Barcelona are winning. As for Osasuna Darko Brasanac is still out of contention due to an injury while David Garcia is a doubt. Jagoba Arrasate may want to rest a few players as they have the Copa Del Rey final against Real Madrid on the weekend. 

Osasuna have only won 4 away games all season and Camp Nou is possibly the most difficult place to win in Spain. In the reverse fixture at Al Sadar Barcelona got a comeback 2-1 win. On the weekend Osasuna lost 2-0 to Real Sociedad at home so they will be looking to get some momentum before the Copa Del Rey final. Barcelona definitely have a lot of room for improvement and this part of the season is very important for Xavi to determine the players he wants to keep for next season. Things will get even more tricky due to the Financial fair play rules which is why the Catalan club need to sell a couple of players.

Also read: Could Luka Modric’s injury be a blessing in disguise for Real Madrid?