Newly-promoted Las Palmas went into the winter break on the back of just their second defeat in eight La Liga (LL) matches, heartbreakingly conceding in stoppage-time to lose 1-0 to Athletic Bilbao. Encouragingly though, the Yellows remain in the top-half ahead of their daunting clash with Barcelona, the club where current manager García Pimienta’s playing career started.
Pimienta could write club history in the first meeting between these sides since 2018, as Las Palmas haven’t won a LL H2H since February 1986 (D5, L9), their longest such winless streak in the top-flight. That last win did come at home though, and an unlikely repeat could be on the cards as the hosts have won four of their last six LL games at this venue (D1, L1).
Barcelona ended 2023 with a nerve-shredding 3-2 win over basement boys Almería, bringing an end to a two-match winless run in LL that hampered their title defence (D1, L1). The Blaugrana sit seven points adrift of arch-rivals Real Madrid at the LL summit, and as they’ve strung together consecutive wins just once across their last 12 league matches, confidence may not be so high here.
With their Spanish Super Cup title defence looming, manager Xavi could rotate his team, which could add further jeopardy to an already-difficult looking away task. Barça may remain one of just two LL sides yet to lose an away game this season (W3, D5), but four draws from their last five road trips suggests they could struggle again here, especially as three of their last four draws required them to come from a goal down to rescue a share of the spoils.
Players to watch: Las Palmas’ Munir El Haddadi is looking for a first-ever personal LL H2H victory (D3, L5) over his former club, and a goal could set the wheels in motion as ten of his last 12 top-flight strikes have come in wins. Raphinha’s recent form could be crucial to Barcelona’s hopes as he’s directly contributed to five goals across his last four games (G1, A4).
Hot streak: Barcelona scored first in each of their last seven LL H2Hs.
