Next Saturday, 27th of September 2014, Luis Enrique’s Barcelona will measure forces with a surprising Granada side at Camp Nou for round six of the Spanish Liga BBVA on a match that the Blaugranas need to win if they don’t to lose their place at the top of the table.

After smashing Levante over the weekend by 5-0, the Barcelona of Galician Luis Enrique failed to find a way to overcome a well organized Málaga at La Rosaleda last Wednesday. The match ended in a goalless draw and although one might say that Barça should have done more to win the clash, one cannot help but notice the excellent tactical work developed by the home side, which restrained the all-powerful Barcelona and confined them to their own side of the pitch for great periods of the match.

The Catalan team lacked inspiration last Wednesday’s night and not even their most talented players (Messi, Neymar and Iniesta) managed to disrupt the well organized Málaga’s defence line. Luis Enrique promoted some rotation in his team, offering Bartra and Douglas some extra playing time. The Brazilian full-back had a night to forget, as most of Málaga’s attacking intents took place at his side and he clearly failed to stop them.

Barcelona’s next opponent, Granada, will surely present the Catalan team with several difficulties as they’ve proven to be a fairly organized team on the matches they played in the league so far.

For next Saturday’s match, the Asturian manager will still not be able to count on the contribution of Suárez, who is suspended, and of Rafinha, Masip and Vermaelen, all sidelined due to injury.

As for Granada, last Wednesday’s surprising home defeat against Levante can probably be considered their only flaw so far this season. Granada’s manager, Joaquin Caparrós, suffered his first defeat of the season at the hands of his former team, on a match where the Nazaries where nothing but a shadow of what they have already presented this season.

After granting a moralizing win at San Mamés over the weekend, Granada suffered a huge blow to their aspirations and things could even become worse for them if we consider that they will visit Camp Nou next Saturday.

When both sides went head-to-head at Catalunya last season, the home side smashed Granada 4-0 and there is a great possibility that the same thing will happen next weekend, especially if the Nazaries are still resenting their somewhat surprising midweek home defeat.

Barcelona

Stats: W-4 L-0 D-1

Recent Form - DWWWW

Granada

Stats: W-2 L-1 D-2

Recent Form - LWDDW

Possible Line-ups

Barcelona (4-3-3) - Bravo - Dani Alves - Piqué - Mathieu - Jordi Alba - Busquets - Iniesta - Rakitic - Neymar - Pedro - Messi

Granada (4-4-2) - Roberto - Nyom - Babin - Murillo - Sissoko - Rico - Iturra - Rochina - Piti - Córdoba - El-Arabi

Prediction

Barcelona 2 Granada 0