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Barcelona is one of the most successful clubs in the world. They have dominated Spanish and European football for many seasons in the recent past. They are the current La Liga Champions and looking to win their 26th Spanish league title.
They have won the league title on 9 occasions in the past 14 seasons. However, at least on a couple of occasions in the past 10 to 15 years, teams like Valencia and Atletico Madrid have defeated Barcelona to win the league title.
A teams capacity to win league titles depends on their ability to win games consistently and master the art of winning games away from home. Away games are always tricky, irrespective of who the opponents are.
Barcelona lost the La Liga title to Atletico Madrid during the 2013/14 season and one of the major reason behind the failure was their inability to win games away from home, especially against the weaker opponents. They have lost games against Athletic Bilbao, Granada, Real Sociedad, and Valladolid, and that has caused their downfall.
Though the Catalan giants are currently at the top of the La Liga table, they are struggling to win games away from home. Not less than a week ago, Valverde’s men lost 2-1 on their trip to Leganes. They have also struggled to beat Valladolid and Real Sociedad on the road this season.
Without much ado, let’s take a look at the 5 tricky away games that could decide Barcelona’s title chances this season.
#5 Valencia vs Barcelona, 7 October 2018
Valencia is one of the most successful clubs in La Liga history. They are one of the very few clubs, other than Real Madrid and Barcelona, to win the Spanish league title. Mestalla stadium is always a tough place to play for an away team.
Valencia finished fourth in the La Liga last campaign as teams like Atletico Madrid and Barcelona have failed to beat Valencia at the Mestalla.
Meetings between these two sides are always close contests. Barcelona beat Valencia 2-1 at Camp Nou last season but needed a late goal from Jordi Alba to drew 1-1 at Mestalla. In the last three outings between these sides at Mestalla, Barcelona finished victorious on only one occasion.
UEFA Champions League away trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday could make this game an even trickier one for the Catalan giants.
#4 Levante vs Barcelona, 16 December 2018
The only team that has defeated Barcelona in La Liga last season was Levante. They shattered Barcelona’s dream of an unbeaten La Liga campaign and inflicted the first league defeat for Ernesto Valverde as Barcelona boss. Levante defeated them 5-4 at home and deprived Barcelona of ultimate glory.
Top Spanish teams like Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have failed to win games at Levante in the past few La Liga campaigns. Real Madrid drew 2-2 last season and Atletico Madrid managed to win only once in their last four attempts at Estadi Ciutat de València. Though Barcelona has failed to beat Levante at Estadi Ciutat de València on only one occasion in the recent past, this has all the ingredients of a close contest.
#3 Villarreal vs Barcelona, 3 April 2019
Villarreal is always a tough unit to beat at home. Most travelling teams have found it hard to get three points at Estadio de la Cerámica, especially during the 2017/18 season. Villarreal finished fifth in the 2017/18 La Liga campaign and was brilliant at home throughout the campaign, barring a few games.
Villarreal got the better of teams like Atletico Madrid, Valencia, and drew the game 2-2 against Real Madrid. Though Barcelona defeated Villarreal at Estadio de la Cerámica during the 2017/18 season, they have failed to do that in their previous two outings, which ended in a 1-1 and a 2-2 draw.
#2 Sevilla vs Barcelona, 24 February 2019
The Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium has always been a tricky and one of the toughest away venues in Spanish football for the traveling teams. Even the mighty Los Blancos have succeeded just once in their last seven attempts at Sevilla and lost all their remaining six games, showing how hard it is to play at Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.
Though Barcelona’s record at Sevilla is much better, in the last four La Liga outings, the Catalan giants have won just once. They have lost once and drew the other two games. With Barcelona most certain to proceed from Group B in the UEFA Champions League 2018/19, the game against Sevilla, which comes in February, might fall between the important round of 16 fixtures.
#1 Celta Vigo vs Barcelona, 5 May 2019
Celta Vigo has been a thorn in the flesh for Barcelona in the recent past, especially at the Balaidos. Celta Vigo has inflicted more misery on Barcelona at home than any other La Liga club since the 2015/16 season. The Vigo based club has defeated Barcelona twice in their last three La Liga meetings at the Balaidos and drew the other game.
Barcelona’s worst La Liga defensive record away from home in the past three seasons is at the Balaidos. Celta Vigo has scored 10 goals in their last three home outings against Barcelona, which hasn’t been bettered by any other Spanish top-flight team, not even by the current European champions, Real Madrid. A really tricky fixture for the Catalan giants.
