The match between Barcelona and Osasuna. Spanish Super Cup semifinal preview and prediction
Barcelona, after a series of indistinct matches, will try to take a fresh start in faraway Saudi Arabia, where the Spaniards have recently played the Super Cup in two stages. Will they succeed? A year ago, it was the triumph in the Super Cup that set the tone for the season of Barça, who eventually won the championship. Now, however, this is an infinitely long way off.
Spanish Super Cup. 1/2 finals
on January 11. Riyadh. Al Awwal
FC Barcelona 21:00 Osasuna Referee: Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz
Broadcast: Setanta
Sports (OTT)
FC Barcelona News
Barcelona have not won by more than one goal in 20 matches in a row – and this is the best description of their season. It’s hard for Xavi’s team. Sometimes she overcomes these difficulties, sometimes not, but the main thing – intrigue – is always in place.
In the last three matches, Barça have defeated the far from top Almeria, Las Palmas and Barbastro, and each time they scored the decisive goal in the end. At the same time, Xavi’s team gave out the last clean sheet on December 3 with Atletico (1-0), and in total conceded 22 goals in La Liga in 19 rounds – this is exactly twice as much as Real Madrid.
Do you think the match against Osasuna will be a revelation? We don’t think so. There will be a lot of fighting, and the result will be decided by nuances – a ricochet, a penalty or, maybe, a goal by newcomer Vitor Roque. This guy in Brazil was famous for his ability to score in any situation.
Osasuna News
If Barça is 3rd in La Liga, but dreams of being 1st, then Osasuna is globally in its place. The 12th position is like a native for her. The club is not rich, the squad is staffed by local guys from Navarra.
How did they get into the Super Bowl? Thanks to reaching the final of the 2023 Cup. There, Pamplona lost to Real Madrid (1-2), but looked very decent. In principle, there is no doubt that the Reds will not shy away from Barça. They have a lot of problems with deep defenses, but Torro, Oros, David Garcia, Budimir know how to fight back, snap back.
What can get in the way? Saudi Arabia. Osasuna have problems with road trips; 0 wins in the last 5 La Liga matches. At the same time, there is good news – while Barça suffered in Barbastro, Pamplona put up a reserve for their match with Castellón, so tomorrow it should be fresher.
Barcelona vs Osasuna: head-to-head statistics
Osasuna have not beaten Barcelona since July 2020 (2-1). Since then, the Catalans have 6 wins and one draw.
In the first round of the current championship, Barça defeated Pamplona 2-1 on the road – Lewandowski’s late goal from the penalty spot, which Robert himself earned, helped.
Barcelona’s latest matches
Recent matches of Osasuna
Indicative line-ups
Barcelona are still treating ter Stegen, Pedri, Gavi, and recently Cancelo. These are the four iron players of the start. In addition to them, there will be no Marcos Alonso and Iñigo Martinez.
At the same time, Osasuna arrived in the desert with an almost perfect line-up – only the loaned left-back Joan Mojica is out of the game for the rest of the season.
Barcelona: Peña – Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde de Jong, Gundogan, Roberto – Raphinha, Lewandowski, Ferran Torres
Osasuna: Herrera – Arezo, Catena, David Garcia, Cruz, Peña – Moncayola, Torro, Oros – Budimir, Moi Gomez
Barcelona vs Osasuna: Bets and Odds
Barcelona vs Osasuna: prediction from UA-Football
Barça are still dangerous up front, but completely inept on the back. It is enough to hang a couple of times – and immediately a mistake.
Our bet in this situation is on “both teams will score”. Bookmakers offer to make it with odds of 1.8 and above.
