Barcelona will be looking to make it back-to-back wins in Spain's top flight when they continue their 2025-26 La Liga campaign with an away match against Celta Vigo on Sunday evening.
Hansi Flick's side are currently second in the La Liga table, five points behind the leaders Real Madrid, while Celta have picked up 13 points from their 11 matches to occupy 12th spot in the division.
Match preview
Only Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid (both one) have lost fewer La Liga matches than Celta this season, with the Sky Blues only being beaten on two occasions in their 11 games, but too many draws (seven) have cost them a spot higher up the division heading into gameweek 12.
The Vigo outfit have a record of two wins, seven draws and two defeats from their 11 matches, with 13 points leaving them in 12th spot in the table.
Claudio Giraldez's side will enter this match in excellent form, though, having won each of their last five matches in all competitions, while they are unbeaten in their last eight fixtures.
Indeed, in addition to two league wins during that run, Celta have posted three victories in the league phase of the Europa League and a 2-0 success over Puerto de Vega in the first round of the Copa del Rey.
Giraldez's side should therefore enter this match full of confidence, and the hosts will be looking to take advantage of the defensive problems that exist in the Barcelona team.
Claudio Giraldez, head coach of RC Celta de Vigo
Barcelona are electric in the final third, and that will only improve once Raphinha has returned to fitness, but there is no getting away from the fact that the Catalan outfit are struggling at the back.
Flick's team have conceded 13 times in their 11 league matches, while they shipped three against Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday night, playing out a 3-3 outfit with the Belgian outfit.
Barcelona have a record of eight wins, one draw and two defeats from their 11 league matches this season, with 25 points leaving them second in the table, five points behind the leaders Real Madrid, but the gap would become eight if Los Blancos beat Rayo Vallecano on Sunday afternoon.
The La Liga champions have lost two of their last four in the league, but they did record a 3-1 success over Elche last time out, while Blaugrana have won three of their last four matches against Celta, including a 4-3 victory when the pair last locked horns back in April.
The points were shared in a 2-2 draw in Vigo last season, though, and Celta also have a recent home victory over Barcelona to their name, triumphing 2-1 during the 2022-23 La Liga campaign.
Celta Vigo La Liga form:
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Celta Vigo form (all competitions):
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Barcelona La Liga form:
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Barcelona form (all competitions):
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Team News
Barcelona's Raphinha on September 18, 2025
Celta will again be without the services of Williot Swedberg and Javi Rueda due to injury problems, while Hugo Alvarez and Ionut Andrei Radu are also set to miss out.
Radu is dealing with a hand injury, so there should be a start between the sticks for Ivan Villar, who has featured in two of Celta's last three matches in all competitions.
Pablo Duran scored twice against Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League on Thursday night, but the attacker is expected to drop down to the bench on Sunday to allow Borja Iglesias to lead the line.
As for Barcelona, Gavi (knee), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (back), Raphinha (hamstring), Pedri (hamstring) remain unavailable for selection this weekend.
Joan Garcia and Andreas Christensen have both made excellent progress in their recoveries from knee and calf injuries respectively, and the pair could potentially make the squad on Sunday.
Eric Garcia suffered a suspected broken nose against Club Brugge last time out and is set to miss out, so Pau Cubarsi is expected to return to the middle of the back four in Vigo.
Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo are both pushing for spots in the side following their injury recoveries, but the pair are expected to start on the bench on Sunday.
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Villar; Rodriguez, Starfelt, Alonso; Mingueza, Beltran, Moriba, Carreira; Jutgla, Iglesias, Zaragoza
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Casado, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin, Rashford; Torres
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We say: Celta Vigo 2-3 Barcelona
Barcelona cannot afford to drop more points in La Liga at this stage of the season, but this will be a very, very difficult test against an in-form Celta outfit. We were close to backing a draw here but have just sided with Barcelona, who will be hoping that Lamine Yamal can make the difference once again.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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