Barcelona will be aiming to make it eight wins out of eight so far this La Liga season when they face Osasuna at El Sadar on Saturday. Los Rojillos have four points from their last two games and are on the rise under Vicente Moreno. Hansi Flick’s Barca have responded well in the UEFA Champions League with wins over Villarreal and Getafe since losing to AS Monaco.
Osasuna enjoyed a strong start to the new campaign with 12 wins and three successive wins at home against Mallorca, Celta Vigo and Las Palmas to take them to 10 points. The Pamplona team finished 11th last season, seventh in 2022-23 and also reached the Copa del Rey final. This weekend will be a challenge for Moreno’s side as they have not achieved a win against Barca in La Liga since July 2020.
A one-goal win over Getafe, secured by Robert Lewandowski in midweek, took them to 21 of 21 points and moved Barcelona four points ahead of Real Madrid at the summit ahead of this weekend’s Madrid derby. So, considering the rise of star names like Frenkie de Jong and Marc-Andre ter Stegen so far this year, a seven-point gap could open up going forward, which would be an impressive achievement for Flick.
Here’s the storyline, how to watch the game, and more.
To confirm your interest in subscribing, please check the opt-in box.
Thank you for signing up!
Please check your inbox carefully.
sorry!
An error occurred while processing your subscription.
How to watch and odds
- date: Saturday, September 28 | hour: 3 PM ET
- location: El Sadar Stadium – Pamplona, ​​Spain
- see: ESPN Sports | brook: Fubo (Try it for free)
- multiplication: Osasuna +550; Draw +360. Boat-225
The story so far
Barca are going strong despite missing key players through injury and a win on Saturday would equal their 2013-14 effort with their best start to a La Liga season. The Catalans won their first eight games, and two more wins since then would mark an impressive new record for the Flick. Los Rojillos also performed well with 11 points, ranking 7th, just one point behind Atletico Madrid in 4th place.
team news
health: Iker Munoz and Kike Barja have been ruled out, but Moreno has a fairly complete squad to choose from. With no dominant goal-scoring source for the side so far this season, Ante Budimir could be back in the XI. Brian Zaragoza is also expected to make some changes after the Valencia draw.
Possible Osasuna XI: Herrera; Areso, Boyomo, Herrando, Bretones; Moncayola, Toro, M Gomez; Zaragoza, Budimir, Oroz.
Barça: Eight players are missing Getafe, with Ter Stegen, De Jong, Ronald Araujo, Fermin Lopez, Dani Olmo, Andreas Christensen, Gavi and Marc Bernal all unavailable. The Catalans should welcome Pedri to replace Marc Casado, while Lewandowski should continue his brilliant partnership with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha in attack.
Possible Barça XI: pain; Kounde, Cubarsi, I Martinez, Balde; E Garcia, Pedri; Yamal, Torre, Raphinha; Lewandowski.
prediction
This may be tricky, but Barca should win by goals or so. Considering that Flick’s team is currently active, don’t be surprised if the final margin is slightly larger. But equally, don’t discount Osasuna’s ability to play for their fans against bigger teams. Select: Osasuna 1, Barca 2.
