FC Barcelona vs Deportivo La Coruña Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

Preview

Joel Amorim May 19, 2015 @ 12:15 am

Next Saturday, 23rd of May 2015, the new Spanish champions, Barcelona, will entertain the relegation threatened Deportivo La Coruña at a predictably packed Camp Nou for the last round of the Liga BBVA.

Barcelona needed to win at Vicente Calderón to grant La Liga’s title and they did it. A goal from the usual suspect Lionel Messi helped Barça to win the 23rd league title of their history and in the end it was a deserved prize for their splendid consistency during almost the entire season. A staggering, but not unusual, percentage of effective ball possession was once again vital for the Catalan team to claim the three points at the headquarters of the former La Liga champions, who weren’t able to counter Barça’s display of power this season.

The Asturian manager, Luis Enrique, is the man of the moment at Catalunya and while some pundits still claim that he is not good enough to lead Barça, the truth is that he has completely refurbished a team that had been drowning in apathy and blandness since the departure of Pep Guardiola.

The upcoming match at Camp Nou against Deportivo will serve Barcelona to celebrate the Spanish top tier title with their highly enthusiastic supporters but it could also serve to “offer” the Galician historical team a one-way ticket to Liga Adelante.

As for Deportivo, Los Brancoazuis only depend on themselves to grant a place at Liga BBVA next season, but turning a match at Camp Nou into something positive it is definitely not an easy thing to do, especially when you are facing the recently crowned champions.

Depor had has several ups and downs this season but their recent managerial change offered the team a new hope of securing a place at La Liga next term. The arrival of Victor Sanchez, who has worked as an assistant manager at Michel’s Olympiakos last season, brought some fresh blood to Depor and they are currently on a good streak of three matches without a single defeat.

Barcelona

Stats: W-4 L-1 D-0

Recent Form - WLWWW

Deportivo

Stats: W-1 L-1 D-3

Recent Form - WDDLD

Possible Line-ups

Barcelona (4-3-3) - ter Stegen - Montoya -Pique - Bartra - Adriano - Busquets - Rakitic - Rafinha - Neymar - Pedro - Messi

Deportivo (4-2-3-1) - Fabri - Laure - Lopo - Sidnei - Pablo - Bergantinos - Borges - Luisinho - Perez - Salomão - Riera

Injury List / Suspended Players

Barcelona - None

Deportivo -  Insua (inj) - Wilk (inj)

Head-to-head matches:

Top Players:

Barcelona - Lionel Messi - Luis Suarez - Neymar

Deportivo - Riera - Borges - Perez

League Positions