Los Blaugrana will welcome their cross-town neighbors to Camp Nou on Wednesday for the most important match between Catalonia's most emblematic clubs.

Match Preview

Barcelona return to La Liga action in mid-week against relegation-bound Espanyol in the second Derbi Barceloni of the season. Following the restoration of the 2019/2020 season, not much has gone the way of Quique Setien's men who have lost grip of their title charge.

With just four games left to play the defending champions are four points adrift of Real Madrid in first position. The current status of Los Blaugrana, who led the chart prior to the hiatus, was necessitated by the points dropped against Sevilla, Celta Vigo and Atletico Madrid in the past weeks.

There is still a glimmer of hope for a late surprise in the pursuit for the title but that will only be achieved if Real Madrid drops points in at least three of their four remaining games. Relatively, Barca would have too winning all their remaining fixtures for the aforementioned to be a realization.

The Camp Nou outfit approaches the mid-week's encounter on the back of a five-game unbeaten run since the restart. However, they have won just two of the matches while drawing the remaining three games. Across the last 10 matches, they have picked up six wins, three draws and just one defeat.

For Espanyol, the frequency of wins enjoyed by their rivals seems almost alien to their campaign, especially in recent weeks. Francisco Rufete's men come into the Matchday 34 encounter on the back of a 1-0 home defeat to Leganes.

The tale has been the same since the league resumed as they have picked up six defeats in seven outings during the period. While Barcelona enters the upcoming derby as favorites, the 2-2 draw between the two rivals earlier this season could serve as motivation for Los Periquitos whose relegation will be all but confirmed with a defeat on Wednesday.

Team news

Frenkie de Jong, Ousmane Dembele, Junior Firpo and Samuel Umtiti are all out of contention for Barcelona with respective injuries. There are no issues of suspensions for Los Blaugrana. On the other hand, Espanyol would test their luck without Jonathan Calleri.

The striker was sent-off in the weekend's loss to Leganes. Both Pipa and Sebastien Corchia are also unavailable as they are yet to recover from injuries.

Possible starting XI for Barcelona vs Espanyol

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Roberto, Busquets, Vidal; Messi; Suarez, Griezmann.

Espanyol: Diego Lopez; J. Lopez, Espinosa, Cabrera, Vila; Roca, David Lopez; Melendo, Darder, Embarba, Tomas. 

Broadcast information for Barcelona vs Espanyol

United States: Radio Barca, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, Fanatiz USA

Australia: Radio Barca, Kayo Sports, beIN Sports 1, beIN Sports Connect

Canada: beIN SPORTS CONNECT Canada, beIN SPORTS en Español, beIN Sports Canada, Radio Barca

Spain: Movistar Laliga 1, Movistar Laliga, Mitele Plus, Movistar+, Partidazo in Movistar LaLiga

United Kingdom: Premier Player HD, LaLigaTV

See below for broadcast information if your country was not listed above:

 

Match details, result and original broadcast info

Barcelona 1 - 0 Espanyol

July 8, 2020 4:00pmCamp Nou (Barcelona)

This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.

Live TV coverage and streaming in United States

Fanatiz USA
beIN SPORTS USA
beIN SPORTS en Español
fuboTV
beIN SPORTS CONNECT U.S.A.