La Liga: Barca Must Regain Their Bearings After Abject UCL Performance

Barcelona vs Alaves

Barcelona are coming off one of their worst performances of the season, losing 3-0 against Chelsea in the Champions League last night. The Blues mauled the Blaugrana at Stamford Bridge, so it is back to the drawing board for the latter.

Fortunately for Hansi Flick’s men, they have a winnable La Liga match against Alaves this Saturday afternoon. If Barcelona win this game, and Real Madrid drop points in their match against Girona, they could see themselves back at the top of the Spanish top-flight standings at the end of Matchday 14.

Speaking of Alaves, they have struggled for consistency, winning only one of their last five league matches. As a result, Eduardo Coudet’s men are 14th in the table with 15 points.

The SBOTOP betting odds expect the hosts to win easily, but can the visitors put up a fight?

 

Talking Points

Barcelona’s defence must not lose their composure

Barcelona fell to their second Champions League defeat of the season against Chelsea, dropping to 15th in the table as a result. A huge reason behind their loss was their lack of composure on the defensive end, and it didn’t help that they were reduced to 10 men before the halftime break.

Chelsea got on the scoresheet when Jules Kounde scored an own goal near the half-hour mark. During the fateful sequence, Marc Cucurella was unmarked on the edge of the box, and the Blues full-back whipped a cross to Pedro Neto, whose shot was deflected into the net after a mix-up between Ferran Torres and Kounde.

It got worse for Hansi Flick’s side when Ronald Araujo received his marching orders for his crunching tackle on Cucurella. Since then, Estevao and Liam Delap scored two more goals for Chelsea in the second half to ice the game. Pau Cubarsi and Alejandro Balde should have done much better to stop Estevao and Delap’s goals.

Before their abject performance against Chelsea, Barcelona won 4-0 against Athletic Bilbao. Araujo should keep his starting spot, as his suspension only applies in Europe. Moreover, Barcelona should have more shots in the final third against an inferior Alaves team.

 

More goals needed for Alaves

Alaves are nearer to the relegation zone than to the top half because of their lack of production in the final third. As of this writing, El Glorioso have the league’s third-worst offence with only 11 goals while conceding 12 on the other end.

During their two-game losing streak, Alaves didn’t find the net against Girona and Celta Vigo (both 1-0). However, on their best day, Alaves can score with the best of them, as shown in their recent wins against Espanyol (2-1) and CD Getxo (7-0) in the Copa del Rey first round.

Alaves’ best attackers are Carlos Vicente, Toni Martinez, and Lucas Boye, who have combined for seven league goals this term, while Carles Alena is their top playmaker with three assists. 

 

History

Barcelona unsurprisingly completed a league double over Alaves last term. The Blaugrana won 3-0 at Mendizorozza last October, as Robert Lewandowski had a hat-trick. A few months later, Barcelona won 1-0 at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium for the reverse fixture, as Lewandowski struck again.

Overall, Barcelona are undefeated in their last 16 matches against Alaves (D1). Alaves’ previous win in this fixture was a 2-1 victory in September 2016 at Camp Nou, as Deyverson and Ibai Gomez cancelled out Jeremy Mathieu’s goal. That was El Glorioso’s first away win against Barcelona since February 2000.

Alaves have mostly been in the bottom half of La Liga, though their best finish recently was 10th in 2023-24 (46 points). On the other hand, Barcelona are the defending champions after winning the league last term.

 

Betting Tip

As mentioned, the La Liga 2025 odds favour Barcelona to pick up maximum points against Alaves. The Blaugrana are 1.20 favourites, whereas Alaves are huge 9.40 underdogs, and a draw is at 6.20 in the 1X2 market.

After failing to score against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Barcelona should find their shooting boots against an inferior Alaves squad en route to a wire-to-wire win, so there should be La Liga 2025 highlights from this fixture.

Besides our recommended bet, bettors can add Over 3.25 at 1.80, Over 3.50 at 1.98, Over 3.75 at 2.21, and Total Goal 4-6 at 2.21 to the parlay. Meanwhile, a Correct Score of 1-0 in favour of Barcelona – the result of their last league meeting – is on offer at a robust payday of 10.50.

   

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