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Played
January 28, 2012 4:00 PM EST
Camp El Madrigal — Villarreal
Referee: José Antonio Teixeira Vitienes
Attendance: 20000
January 28, 2012 4:00 PM EST
Camp El Madrigal — Villarreal
Referee: José Antonio Teixeira Vitienes
Attendance: 20000
La Liga Preview: Villarreal - Barcelona
The Catalan side returns to La Liga duty and travels to El Madrigal days after its Copa del Rey progression against Real Madrid.
By Martin Macdonald
Getty Images
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PROBABLE LINE-UPS |
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VILLARREAL  Diego Lopez Angel, Musacchio, Gonzalo, Oriol Valero, Senna, Bruno, Cani Ruben, Barroso |
BARCELONA
 Valdes Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal Xavi, Mascherano, Busquets Messi, Cesc, Pedro |
Pep Guardiola's Barcelona side picked up injuries to key players in its 2-2 Clasico draw with Real Madrid on Wednesday. Andres Iniesta has been ruled out for three weeks after coming off with a hamstring tear on his left leg, and Alexis Sanchez could also miss out too.
David Villa and Ibrahim Afellay are absentees with a broken leg and a ligament injury, respectively, keeping the duo out long term. Victor Valdes will come back into the side to resume La Liga duty and Javier Mascherano may be drafted into the first XI for the match at El Madrigal.
Jose Molina will welcome a number of his first team squad back into training in the past week or so. Carlos Marchena, Mateo Musacchio and Javi Camunas have all returned to fitness after shaking off niggling injuries.
Jose Molina will welcome a number of his first team squad back into training in the past week or so. Carlos Marchena, Mateo Musacchio and Javi Camunas have all returned to fitness after shaking off niggling injuries.
Wakaso Mubarak has also returned to training after undergoing a successful nose operation. However, Jose Catala is still absent after surgery on his right knee at the start of January. Giuseppe Rossi is also still injured after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament at the start of the season.
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DID YOU KNOW? |
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Villarreal has picked up 16 of its 19 points at home this season. The only team to beat
it at El Madrigal this campaign was Levante, which won 3-0.
- The Yellow Submarine have beaten Barca eight times (home and away) since first winning promotion to La Liga in 1998. The only team with more victories against the Catalans in that period is Deportivo La Coruna, with nine wins.
- Jose Molina's side is unbeaten inits last five matches at El Madrigal, winning three times and drawing twice.
- Barcelona has won the past three encounters at El Madrigal, with the last victory coming on April 2, 2011, when it came out with a narrow 1-0 win.
- The last time a club made up at least five points in the second half of the season was in 2002-03 when Real Madrid overtook Real Sociedad. Los Blancos were five points behind after 19 matches and had a two-point lead over Sociedad in the final standings.
Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
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Villarreal 0-4 Barcelona
- 15.47 %
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Villarreal 0-3 Barcelona
- 14.65 %
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Villarreal 1-3 Barcelona
- 11.81 %
| La Liga (LIGA) | Jan 28, 2012 | Villarreal 0 - Barcelona 0 |
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| La Liga (LIGA) | Aug 29, 2011 | Barcelona 5 - Villarreal 0 |
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| La Liga (LIGA) | Apr 2, 2011 | Villarreal 0 - Barcelona 1 |
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| La Liga (LIGA) | Nov 13, 2010 | Barcelona 3 - Villarreal 1 |
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| La Liga (LIGA) | May 1, 2010 | Villarreal 1 - Barcelona 4 |
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Villarreal
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| May 13, 2012 | Villarreal 0 - Atletico Madrid 1 | LIGA |
| May 5, 2012 | Valencia 1 - Villarreal 0 | LIGA |
| May 1, 2012 | Sporting Gijon 2 - Villarreal 3 | LIGA |
| Apr 28, 2012 | Villarreal 1 - Osasuna 1 | LIGA |
| Apr 22, 2012 | Real Sociedad 1 - Villarreal 1 | LIGA |
Barcelona
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| May 25, 2012 | Athletic Bilbao 0 - Barcelona 3 | ESPC |
| May 12, 2012 | Betis 2 - Barcelona 2 | LIGA |
| May 5, 2012 | Barcelona 4 - Espanyol 0 | LIGA |
| May 2, 2012 | Barcelona 4 - Malaga 1 | LIGA |
| Apr 29, 2012 | Rayo Vallecano 0 - Barcelona 7 | LIGA |
| 13 | Diego López Rodríguez | Goalkeeper |
| 2 | Gonzalo Rodríguez | Defender |
| 3 | Joan Oriol | Defender |
| 4 | Mateo Musacchio | Defender |
| 6 | Ángel | Defender |
| 10 | Cani | Midfielder |
| 19 | Marcos Senna | Midfielder |
| 20 | Borja Valero Iglesias | Midfielder |
| 21 | Soriano | Midfielder |
| 9 | Marco Ruben | Striker |
| - | José Luis Moreno Barroso | Striker |
| 1 | César | Goalkeeper |
| 5 | Carlos Marchena | Defender |
| 12 | Cristian Zapata | Defender |
| 14 | Mario Gaspar | Defender |
| 8 | Jonathan De Guzmán | Midfielder |
| - | Gonzalo Castellani | Midfielder |
| 17 | Javi Camuñas | Midfielder |
| 1 | Víctor Valdés | Goalkeeper |
| 2 | Daniel Alves | Defender |
| 3 | Gerard Piqué | Defender |
| 5 | Carles Puyol | Defender |
| 21 | Adriano | Midfielder |
| 22 | Éric Abidal | Defender |
| 4 | Cesc Fàbregas | Midfielder |
| 6 | Xavi | Midfielder |
| 14 | Javier Mascherano | Midfielder |
| 16 | Sergio Busquets Burgos | Midfielder |
| 10 | Lionel Messi | Striker |
| 13 | José Pinto Colorado | Goalkeeper |
| 11 | Thiago Alcántara | Midfielder |
| 28 | Dos Santos | Midfielder |
| 30 | Sergi Roberto | Midfielder |
| 9 | Alexis Sánchez | Striker |
| - | Joan Isaac Cuenca Lopez | Striker |
| 37 | Tello | Striker |
Results
Times In EST
Match News
Top Scorers
| Player | Goals | Penalties | |
|---|---|---|---|
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Lionel Messi
Striker Barcelona |
50 | 10 |
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Cristiano Ronaldo
Striker Real Madrid |
46 | 12 |
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Radamel Falcao
Striker Atlético de Madrid |
24 | 5 |
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Gonzalo Higuaín
Striker Real Madrid |
22 | 0 |
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Karim Benzema
Striker Real Madrid |
21 | 0 |