Three talking points ahead of Espanyol vs Barcelona | La Liga GW 36 | OneFootball

Barcelona are on the verge of winning their third trophy of the season. After winning the Spanish Super Cup and Copa del Rey this year, they are ever so close to the La Liga title and Thursday could well be the day they clinch it.

Two years ago, it was against Espanyol that Barcelona officially won the title under Xavi Hernandez. Coincidentally, they find themselves in the exact same situation once more and could possibly win the title with a win in the Catalan derby.

Espanyol were on a decent run of form from late March as they went seven games unbeaten with four wins in that process at the time. Since then, however, they have lost three league games in a row and enter the Catalan derby on a low.

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

Christensen’s big night

Andreas Christensen’s injury prevented him from working with Hansi Flick until very recently this season, and it is a shame Barcelona could not utilise his services more given the intelligence he has to adapt to the current system.

Playing a high defensive line requires far more than brute defensive skills. It needs a show of understanding of positioning, movements and precise timings of runs.

Ronald Araujo, despite returning to action months before Christensen, has struggled to adapt to the high defensive line but the Danish star has shown an astute understanding of the same in his limited minutes so far.

Given that Flick will not have Inigo Martinez tonight through suspension, the door thus opens for a new name to partner Pau Cubarsi and all signs point to it being Christensen.

The former Chelsea has been linked with an exit from the club for a long time now, particularly for his worrying injury record. Tonight, however, is his chance to prove that he can be an asset for Flick next season and that he deserves a spot in the team.

The Espanyol game, thus, is massive for the 29-year-old who will look to leave a strong impression.

Lewandowski’s chance to catch up

Lewandowski has some catching up to do in the Pichichi race. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Ferran Torres has enjoyed an incredible season playing as a backup forward under Hansi Flick and has only grown from strength to strength as the pressure on him has mounted.

In recent games, he has been in terrifying form and even racked up a hat-trick of assists against Real Madrid in last weekend’s El Clasico. Just ahead of the game against Espanyol, however, he has been ruled out after undergoing surgery for appendicitis.

The door thus opens for Robert Lewandowski to return to the starting lineup for the first time since his injury and catch up ground with Kylian Mbappe who has scored four goals in his last two games to take the lead.

The Real Madrid forward is now three goals clear of Lewandowski and the striker will be gunning for a start to get back to match fitness and have a chance of coming back in the race for the top-scorer award.

Given his prolonged absence from action, however, it will be interesting to see if he will show signs of rust as he did against Inter Milan.

With just three games to go and at least four goals to score, he must be at his lethal best if he is to catch up and make a case for the top scorer award in Spain.

The final step?

Barcelona are at the doorstep of a second league title in three seasons and were even set to lift the trophy last night as Real Madrid were struggling against Mallorca.

The men in white, after all, were tied at 1-1 even in the 94th minute of the game and all signs pointed to the Blaugrana being crowned champions.

A late winner, however, changed matters and the appearance on the leaderboard although Barcelona will likely only be happy with the development. After all, there are not too many better ways to seal a title than winning the Catalan derby away from home.

With two points being all that is needed, Barcelona can win their second league title in three years against their arch-local rivals and it is safe to say the celebrations will run long into the night should they pull it off.

There is one last step for Barcelona to seal the title, and they will thus look to give their all and settle the title race to play the final two games as proclaimed champions.