Ronald Koeman’s choice of the central defender should be just as much a focus of FC Barcelona’s guest appearance at FC Villarreal as Villarreal’s weakness at home – especially against Barça. In addition, there will be another reunion between Gerard Piqué and Gerard Moreno, who is about to set a record. The preview of Villarreal vs. Barcelona.
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Longer educational measure for Mingueza?
FC Barcelona will make a guest appearance on Sunday afternoon (16:15, live in the ticker on Barçawelt.de) in the Estadio de la Cerámica at FC Villarreal. Unai Emery’s team is seventh in La Liga with 49 points, tied with Real Betis and only one point behind Real Sociedad, fighting for fifth place.
After Ronald Koeman raged against Getafe FC on the sidelines because of Oscar Mingueza and immediately replaced the 21-year-old, it remains to be seen whether the Dutchman will still bet on the youngster against Villarreal or leave them on the bench and other players as part of his “educational measures” first gives way.
Ronald Araujo in particular could see his chance here, the Uruguayan central defender was actually considered to be part of the defensive chain until his injury, since his comeback he has not yet given the team the necessary stability, but often he only came off the bench. In the most recent win against Getafe, he only caused a penalty, but made the decision shortly before the end with his goal to make it 4-2.
If Koeman Mingueza really wants to let this game sit on the bench, Araujo would be the most sensible alternative; for the 22-year-old it would also be another opportunity to excel in a game over the full distance.
Does Koeman trust the same triple chain?
While Gerard Piqué and Clément Lenglet in the three-man chain – if they are selected by trainer Koeman in the tactical line-up – will most likely start again, Samuel Umtiti could also have small but justified hopes for a place in the starting XI. His substitution for the Azulones on Thursday evening was possibly not only a pointer to Koemans in the direction of Mingueza, but also a sign of another chance for Umtiti to recommend himself for further appearances on the starting line-up after several gross blunders catapulted him out of this at the beginning of the calendar year . The fact that Koeman turned the entire central defense inside out with the move to Getafe shows the confidence that he still has in the French.
Whether Araujo or Umtiti will be on the field from the start or Oscar Mingueza will be sent back to the field after the brief ruffle will probably in no way influence Koeman’s decision regarding the defense chief. Because Gerard Piqué should be highly motivated against his namesake in the opponent to defend his own case as best as possible.
Moreno before scoring record – Piqué as opponent
With Gerard Moreno, the yellow submarine knows one of the most accurate and most formally strong strikers in La Liga in its own ranks. With 20 goals in 27 games, the striker, who was born just outside Barcelona, is currently third in the top scorer list of Spain’s upper house. Only Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema have been able to cheer more often so far.
So on Sunday there will be a clash between two of the three most dangerous goal-scoring players in Spain. Most recently, Moreno did not let the ball flounder in the net in the surprising defeat against Deportivo Alavés, but before that the 29-year-old scored ten goals in ten games.
As a result, the former youth player Espanyols became the second player in the club history of Villarreal to reach 20 goals in one season in La Liga. Before him, only Diego Forlán succeeded in the 2004/05 season. The Uruguayan placed the ball in the opponent’s goal net 25 times that season. With 54 goals from 106 games, Forlán can still claim to be the best scorer in Villarreal’s club history in Spain’s top division – Giuseppe Rossi also let the fans of the yellow submarine cheer 54 times in 136 games. Now Gerard Moreno is about to turn the duo into a trio – the native Catalan currently has 53 goals in 123 games with La Liga teams.
The question of whether he comes closer to this goal against FC Barcelona will be answered in the negative by Barça’s defensive boss Gerard Piqué. The only thing that Piqué and Moreno have in common is their first name and the mutual dislike on the lawn. In a city derby in February 2018 between Espanyol and FC Barcelona, the two Catalans were the focus of the game, which ended 1-1 – not only because they were the two goal scorers, but also because Moreno fouled piqué extremely roughly in the closing stages. It took the players on both sides to put their emotions aside. Since then there has been a lot of bang when Gerard Piqué and Gerard Moreno face each other; it will be interesting to see whether there will be another chapter in the duel between the two brawlers.
Barça meet homeless Villarreal
Villarreal will also have to rely on Gerard Moreno’s goals against Barça if they want to finally defeat Blaugrana at home. Since meanwhile 23 league games they did not succeed; El Submarino Amarillo did not have such a long negative streak against any opponent.
The fact that FC Barcelona around 25-goal man Lionel Messi in the Estadio de la Cerámica is able to cause spectacular goals is not only shown by the 5: 2 against the playfully destructive Getafe, but also made clear by the recent guest appearances of the Catalans at Villarreal. In the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, Barça scored four goals each, and FC Barcelona won the first leg 4-0 in September.
In addition, Unai Emery’s team, who were so strong at home in the first half of the season, lost three of the last four games at home, only against Cádiz CF they kept three points in Villarreal. While Villarreal want to end the losing streak against Barça and collect three points in the battle for fifth place, Barça needed three important points in the fight for the title. The omens for an exciting game with many goals are in place.
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