Three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Real Oviedo | La Liga MD21 | OneFootball

Barcelona and Real Madrid face two polar challenges on matchday 21 of La Liga, and the week could thus be massive in terms of the title race.

Real Madrid take on Villarreal at the Estadio de la Ceramica in a game that sees the league’s second and third-placed teams face off. At least one of them, thus, is guaranteed to drop points.

Barcelona, meanwhile, lock horns with the division’s lowest-placed team in Real Oviedo and will look to farm the three points against a team that has looked largely helpless this season.

After all, Guillermo Almada’s side have been winless in their last 14 games across all competitions and last took three points in a game back in September.

Barça Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Real Oviedo.

The ‘no Pedri’ crisis

Barcelona suffered a damning blow to their campaign when star midfielder Pedri Gonzalez left the field injured against Slavia Prague midweek in the Czech Republic.

The Canary Islander was not enjoying a great performance on the night, but his injury comes as a massive blow to Hansi Flick’s plans, given how he is a central part of the team’s on-field dominance.

Pedri’s injury will be a massive blow for Barcelona. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Pedri has been diagnosed with a hamstring issue and will be out for a month at least, and tomorrow the team begins that daunting month with their best game controller unavailable. Needless to say, the pressure is on Flick to find a way out.

The manager has multiple options to count on, but it will be interesting to see which combination he sees as the best fit to make up for Pedri’s absence.

Frenkie de Jong is an assured starter in midfield against Real Oviedo, and one of Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo will occupy the attacking midfield position as usual.

The second interior midfield position, however, is the big doubt and Flick can choose from Eric Garcia, Marc Bernal, or Marc Casado to fill that position. Deploying Olmo in that role is another option.

Defensive issues loom large

Joan Garcia’s superhuman displays painted a rosy picture of Barcelona’s defence towards the end of last month, but the club have gone into a full-blown defensive crisis so far in January.

While the Spanish Super Cup in itself saw Barcelona present opposition with numerous openings, Real Sociedad exploited Barcelona’s leaky defence last weekend to take the win against the Catalans.

Even the game midweek, moreover, saw the team concede from two set-pieces in the first-half, raising serious questions about Barcelona’s defence and whether the department is slowly opening up more easily than before.

As Barcelona prepares to take on Real Oviedo, Hansi Flick and Co. will thus have it as a certain objective to improve their defensive record. 

For starters, Flick’s selection in the department will play a massive role. Pau Cubarsi is expected to start, and it remains to be seen if Gerard Martin, Ronald Araujo, or Eric Garcia partner with him through the middle.

Further, there is massive pressure on Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde, both of whom have been underwhelming in recent games, to improve their output not only offensively but in terms of defence.

Kounde must improve his form. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Time to up the ante

Barcelona head into the clash against Real Oviedo as overwhelming favourites, especially given that they are the league leaders and the visitors are the lowest placed team in the division.

While the dressing room will not take the result for granted, they will back themselves to take all three points on the night. Yet, the objective tomorrow must go far beyond the mere win.

Barcelona have a massive task ahead of them next week as they play host to FC Copenhagen in the final matchday of the UEFA Champions League’s league phase. Battling for a top-8 finish, they must win with a massive goal difference to make it.

There is a real need for the Catalans to go on an all-out, ruthless attack against Copenhagen next week. They do have one of Europe’s most potent attacks this season, but they have not been as ruthless and clinical as they were last season.

In tomorrow’s game against Real Oviedo, Barcelona must thus look to use it as a practice game to win by a massive margin, for winning with a thumping scoreline will give them confidence to repeat it midweek.

On the contrary, struggling against Real Oviedo tomorrow could put the team’s morale down before the all-important final league game of the UCL.