Osasuna – Barcelona

The newcomers in La Liga Osasuna host the champion Barcelona in a game from the third round of the league. Allow us to spend few minutes to examine this clash at the Estadio El Sadar in Pamplona.

Osasuna started the new season probably better than they actually expected, securing four points from the first two rounds. In the first round Los Rojillos celebrated a win during the visit to Leganes, while in the second round they shared the points with Eibar at home.

The match against Eibar at El Sadar ended without any goals scored – 0-0. This means that Osasuna remain with just one goal scored since the start of the season, but also without any goals conceded just yet.

Barcelona started the season with a defeat, losing against Athletic in Bilbao. In the second round Los Cules redeemed themselves against Real Betis at the Camp Nou, even without the injured Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele.

The game in Catalonia ended with a spectacular 5-2 win for Blaugranas. The big hero of the night was the summer signing Antoine Griezmann, who scored twice and made one assist. Carles Perez, Jordi Alba and Arturo Vidal also scored for the champions, while Fekir and Loren Moron scored for Betis.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele remain sidelined for Barca. This means that Rafinha and Carles Perez could start upfront alongside Antoine Griezmann. Against Betis Ernesto Valverde left Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal and Arthur on the bench, so let’s see what he’s going to decide for the visit to Pamplona.

Playing at Pamplona against Osasuna is always difficult and Barcelona know this. Once again they must deal with the absence of Leo Messi, while missing Suarez and Dembele is also a problem. Los Cules did the job against Betis, but away from home it’s always very different.