Barcelona Continues Run at Unbeaten La Liga Season vs. Leganes
Barcelona return to league action on Saturday when they host 14th placed CD Leganes at the Camp Nou.
Barcelona will look to maintain their unbeaten streak in La Liga against Leganes, whom they have beaten in three consecutive meetings, scoring 10 goals in the process.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of the match.
Recent Form
Barca have one foot in the Champions League semi final after beating Roma 4-1 in the first leg of their quarter final tie on Wednesday, thanks to two own goals from Roma and strikes from Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez.
In their last La Liga outing, the Spanish giants had to rely on two late goals from Suarez and substitute Lionel Messi in order to grab a point in a 2-2 draw against Sevilla, maintaining their unbeaten record in the league so far this season.
In comparison, Leganes have had a inconsistent season to date, falling to a 1-0 home loss courtesy of Valencia in their last game.
Classic Encounter
Leganes 1-5 Barcelona (September 2016)
The two clubs have only met a total of three times in La Liga, the first time being in September 2016, when Barcelona traveled to the Estadio Municipal de Butarque to take on an unknown force.
Leganes were promoted to La Liga for the first time in their 88-year history the season before, and frustrated the then Champions for the first part of the game. However, on 15 minutes, Barca's quality began to shine through when Luis Suarez put it on a plate for Lionel Messi to tap in.
Both Suarez himself and Neymar added to the score before the break to send Barcelona into the dressing room with a commanding lead.
Barcelona exerted their dominance further in the second half, with Lionel Messi adding a fourth from the penalty spot, before Rafinha curled in a fifth.
But Leganes fans did have an historic moment to celebrate, as Gabriel Appelt Pires scored the club's first ever La Liga home goal with a free kick 10 minutes from time.
Key Battle
Andres Iniesta vs. Ruben Perez
The man whose job it will be to keep Iniesta quiet is Leganes defensive midfielder Ruben Perez. The 28-year-old has played 23 times for the club in La Liga so far this season, and has played every game in the defensive midfield role, sitting just in front of the back four, in the hope of cutting off supply to the opposition's front players. The former Spain U21 player has suffered due to ill discipline this season, having already served two separate suspensions due to accumulation of yellow cards.
Team News
The visitors will be missing two players for their trip to Camp Nou. Winger Alexander Szymanowski is expected to be out of action for the rest of the season, after missing the last 15 league games through injury. Central midfielder Darko Brasanac has had his fair share of injuries throughout the season, and is likely to be sidelines as he has missed the past two games thanks to a muscle injury that he picked up in the game against Athletic Bilbao last month.
Prediction
Barca go into this game as strong favorites, but Leganes will be hoping to cause a major upset by taking points from the runaway league leaders.
With Barcelona having won 24 of their last 26 home matches (La Liga), and Leganes having failed to score in 8 of their last 10 away matches (La Liga), it is impossible to look past a comfortable win for the Catalan side.
Prediction Barcelona 3-0 Leganes
