La Liga: Leganes Next in Barca’s Sights

Barcelona vs Leganes

Football is back and the players in Spain have quickly found their stride. In the first weekend of La Liga football since the COVID 19 pandemic, the big teams have hit the ground running.

Sevilla opened proceedings by winning the Seville derby to cement third place in the table, and league leaders Barcelona returned to action with an emphatic victory.

Next up, it’s the matchup between Barcelona and Leganes on Tuesday in a top versus bottom clash.

Talking Points

Barca back with a bang

It didn’t take the Blaugrana long to get back into their stride. Quique Setien’s side went to Real Mallorca and plundered three points with a 0-4 victory as Lionel Messi scored his 20th league goal of the season.

It only took 65 seconds for Barca to go ahead when Arturo Vidal headed home a Jordi Alba cross. Martin Braithwaite notched his first goal for the club while wing-back Alba also got on the score sheet.

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Messi is the only player to score 20 or more goals in 12 consecutive La Liga seasons, and with Luis Suarez back in the fold, the Champions will take some shifting.

Slow start for Leganes

Here at SBOBET, we backed Leganes to claw their way out of trouble, but it’s going to be a real battle. And Los Pepineros made a disappointing start on Saturday, losing 1-2 at home to Real Valladolid in a relegation six-pointer.

Despite dominating the game for long periods with 68 per cent possession and 11 shots to six, they lacked a cutting edge. In fact, both teams registered just two shots on target, and Leganes were two down before Oscar slammed home an 84th-minute consolation from the penalty spot.

A win for bottom club Espanyol means Leganes share the basement, but they are still only three points from safety.

Braithwaite’s controversial switch

One man is at the centre of the pre-match La Liga 2020 news, amidst the fallout of a dramatic switch between the clubs in February. Leganes’ task over the next ten games has been made harder by the transfer of striker Martin Braithwaite to Barcelona in February.

Martin Braithwaite has scored his first goal for Barcelona in their 4-0 win against Mallorca — Barcelona’s Martin Braithwaite celebrate with his teammates after scoring his side’s second goal against Mallorca

The Blaugrana took advantage of emergency guidelines to sign the Danish striker when La Liga gave them permission to make a move outside the transfer window when Ousmane Dembele was ruled out with a six-month injury. And so the league leaders took Braithwaite away from Leganes for a fee of 18m Euros.

The 28-year-old had scored six of Los Pepineros’ 22 goals this season, and losing the player — capped 39 times by Denmark — is a major blow to the minnows.

The return to fitness of Barca’s Suarez, which will reduce Braithwaite’s opportunity at the Camp Nou, makes this situation all the more laughable.

But Leganes director Martin Ortega is not amused, saying: “We are in a situation of enormous and serious damage. We cannot understand the current regulation that a club, having a long-term injury, can perform this operation unilaterally and transfer their problem to our club.

“We consider that there is a regulation that is unfair, from which Barcelona has benefited.”

Head coach Javier Aguirre will look to nine-goal striker Oscar for leadership upfront while hoping that Youssef En Nesyri can improve on his four goals.

They picked up four points from two games before the delay in football, and Los Pepineros need to recover from the loss of Braithwaite quickly and get back into their stride.

History

These are two clubs with vastly contrasting histories; Barca are chasing a 27th league title, a third in succession and an eighth in ten years, while Leganes won promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history in 2016 and have steadily improved, finishing 13th last season.

In the eight meetings since Leganes arrived in La Liga, the minnows have won just once. The last meeting was in the Copa del Rey Round of 16 in January when Barca hammered Leganes 5-0. Messi scored twice while Antoine Griezmann was also on the score sheet.

And Barcelona’s home record this season of 13 wins and one draw doesn’t give the visitors much hope.

Betting Tip

	Barcelona vs Leganes	Barcelona Correct Score 3-0 @ 6.20
	June 17, 04:00 (GMT+8)

The latest La Liga 2020 betting odds back that thought up loud and clear, with Barca at 1.15 to win, Leganes at 12.04 and the draw at 7.72.

The Asian Handicap spread is a little over two goals, with the hosts at odds of 1.82 with a -2.00 goal handicap, while Leganes is at 2.07 with that start.

The Blaugrana have kept three clean sheets in the last five games, only conceding goals to Real Madrid and to Napoli in the Champions League, so I can see another shutout against a Leganes team without Braithwaite, and it will be three and easy for Barca.