Barcelona have a tough task of challenging Real Madrid for the league title and they will look to start the campaign with a win they face Valencia at the Mestalla on Saturday night.
While Barcelona did manage to finish second behind champions Real Madrid, they finished 10 points behind them and will be eager to bounce back this season, starting with the game against Valencia at the Mestalla on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Los Che could only manage a ninth-placed finish last term. So, they will be looking to return to Europe with improved performances this season. Valencia will kick-start their 2024/25 La Liga campaign with a tough home fixture against Barcelona.
While the hosts have not been that active in the transfer window, they still have a decent squad that can challenge the best teams in the division on their day. As a result, they will be hoping to put up a fight against the Spanish giants.
While Valencia did lose 2-1 in a friendly against Leeds United at the start of the month, they managed to bounce back with a win against Eintracht Frankfurt and will be confident about their chances heading into their first league game of the season.
Barcelona did finish second last term but were far from their best last season. In a season where they were supposed to defend their league title, the Catalan club were not able to compete with Real Madrid. They will hope for a better outing this time around and will look to start with a statement win against Valencia.
The Blaugrana have been quite solid in the pre-season. They played out draws against Manchester City and AC Milan and won both games on penalties. They even defeated Real Madrid but are heading into this one on the back of a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of AS Monaco.
As a result, Barcelona will have to do better if they want the desired result against Valencia. Meanwhile, The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at both teams and tries to predict the tactics they could put to use.
Team News & Tactics
Valencia
The home team are expected to be without the services of Fran Perez, Mouctar Diakhaby, Jaume Domenech and Jose Gaya, with all four of them out injured.
Giorgi Mamardashvili has been linked with a move away from the club, and he is unlikely to start in this fixture with summer signing Stole Dimitrievski expected to make his debut for Valencia in between the sticks against Barcelona.
While Los Che have signed Rafa Mir and Dani Gomez on a season-long loan, neither of them is expected to start in this one. It will be a 4-4-1-1 formation for the home team, with Dimitrievski in goal.
Thierry Correia and Cenk Ozkacar will be the full-back for the home team. Cesar Tarrega, who was out on loan at Real Valladolid last season, could start in the heart of the defence alongside Cristhian Mosquera.
Diego López and Sergi Canos will provide the width to their play, with Javi Guerra and Hugo Guillamon expected to control the tempo from a much more central role. Andre Almeida will feature in the number ten role just behind star striker Hugo Duro.
Probable Lineup (4-4-1-1): Dimitrievski; Correia, Mosquera, Tarrega, Ozkacar; Lopez, Guillamon, Guerra, Canos; Almeida; Duro
Barcelona
While reports earlier suggested that new signing Dani Olmo has not been registered for La Liga, in reality, all has been taken care of and he should be expected to be a part of the squad for their season opener.
The visitors have quite a few injury problems, with Ronald Araujo, Ansu Fati and Gavi all out injured, while Pedri and Frenkie de Jong remain major doubts. New manager Hansi Flick has promoted quite a few academy players to the first-team squad, and he could hand quite a few of them game time against Valencia.
The Blaugrana are expected to stick to the 4-3-3 formation, with new skipper Marc-André ter Stegen in goal. Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde are expected to be the full-backs, while Andreas Christensen and Pau Cubarsi will most likely be the centre-back pairing.
Veteran midfielder Ilkay Gundogan will feature in the middle of the park alongside youngsters Pablo Torre and Marc Casado. The trio will look to control the tempo and have the majority of the ball. In attack, Lamine Yamal should start on the right, while Raphinha should be on the opposite flank, while Roberto Lewandowski should lead the line.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): ter Stegen; Kounde, Christensen, Cubarsi, Balde; Gundogan, Casado, Torre; Yamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha
Key Stats
- Valencia have won La Liga six times with their last win coming back in 2004. They have not finished inside the top four since 2019.
- The home team have been involved in seven friendly matches before the start of the season and they have only won two of those fixtures.
- Barcelona did finish second last season, but they were a massive 10 points behind champions Real Madrid.
- The Spanish giants have won six out of their last seven league games against Valencia.
- Valencia managed to secure a draw against Barcelona at the Mestalla last season and they will be hoping for something similar this time out.
Player to Watch
Lamine Yamal
At the age of just 17, Yamal is already a mainstay at Barcelona, and he is expected to be their go-to man in attack in the upcoming season. After an exceptional debut campaign with the Blaugrana, the teenager did wonders at Euro 2024 and now is gearing up for an all-important season where all eyes will be on him. He managed to contribute towards 16 goals last season and will be hoping to add to it from the start this time around.
Prediction
Valencia 1-2 Barcelona
Valencia will be heading into this fixture against Barcelona high on confidence after securing an easy win in their final friendly fixture. Since the Catalan giants suffered a massive 3-0 defeat in their last outing and are just starting out under Hansi Flick, they will surely find things difficult at the start. But, given the amount of quality they have in their squad, Barcelona should eventually come out on top. The Hard Tackle predicts a hard-fought 2-1 win for the visitors.