The Ronald Koeman era kicks off tomorrow night as Barcelona host Villarreal amid a tumultuous time at Camp Nou.
Barcelona Team. photo credit: 90Min
Following the infamous Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich with an embarrassing 8-2 loss, the club sacked Quique Setien and battled to keep its talismanic captain, Argentine Lionel Messi.
They will begin their 2020/21 La Liga campaign against Villarreal in what could be a difficult fixture on paper for the new manager for obvious reasons .
Former Arsenal’s manager Unai Emery arrived in the offseason at Villarreal , taking over for Javier Calleja and his side have collected four points from six possible after two MatchDay.
After a 1-1 opening day draw against newly-promoted Huesca, Villarreal claimed a MatchDay 2 victory against Eibar, 2-1.
Villarreal have started well and are just two points off of the top two clubs (Granada and Real Betis) in La Liga after Matchday 2. Based on the early season table, it is possible that La Liga could finish in a very unusual style.
Villarreal have not defeated Barcelona in over a decade. The 2007-08 season was the last time that the Yellow Submarine managed a victory against Barcelona. That win came at Camp Nou. Can Emery’s team win against Barcelona at Camp Nou and push toward the top of the table?
Villarreal are coming off of a 2-1 win at home against Eibar but it didn’t go as smoothly as the score line suggested.
Villarreal conceded a 50th -minute goal but came back with two strikes in the final 27 minutes of the game as Gerard Moreno and Paco Alcacer both found the back of the net.
The Yellow Submarine dominated much of the fixture posting 58% possession and tallying 14 shots with eight landing on target; though they did concede 12 shots to Eibar.
Emery’s team must play tighter in defence to prevent Barcelona from having so many shots at goal since they lost both matches against Villarreal last season.
“We are preparing for this week’s match (against Barcelona) with the new coach and new players,” Nigeria’s Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze told NationSport. “I think we will do better at Camp Nou or even win; but is a difficult game also.”
The Blaugrana won 2-1 at Camp Nou with all three goals coming in the first half. Antoine Griezmann and the recently departed Arthur scored in the opening 15 minutes. Villarreal scored through Santi Cazorla in the 44th minute but that was as close as they got.
The reverse fixture ended 4-1 in favour of Barcelona. Pau Torres’ own goal was cancelled out by Moreno. Luis Suarez and Griezmann followed on to give Barcelona a 3-1 lead at halftime. Ansu Fati added a fourth goal with four minutes left on the clock.
Read Also: Messi’s 5 Disagreements With Barcelona Which Could Force His Exit
Villarreal have obtained three draws over the course of the last 10 matches against Barcelona in La Liga. However, they have not won against the Blaugrana in over 10 years.
But the question remains ‘how will Koeman set out his Barcelona team?’
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