January 23rd features a match where Barcelona will travel to Vitoria-Gasteiz to battle Deportivo Alavés in a meeting of these two extremely mismatched La Liga teams. The game day is forecasted to be a cloudy and cold day, and temperatures reaching a maximum of only 0 degrees, which will make playing unpleasant. In their last match, 18th placed Deportivo Alavés, recorded a 0-0 scoreless draw against Athletic Club. Neither Deportivo Alavés nor Athletic Club could manage to put one past the goalie. They had 11 and 11 shots on net respectively, but no one could score, and the match ended in a scoreless draw,. They’re hoping to improve on their recent performance, having earned only 8 points in their last 10 matches, while barcelona is fresh off their 1-1 draw against Granada. Luuk de Jong struck first for Barcelona in the 57th minute, but Antonio Puertas got the equalizer for Granada in the 89th minute earning Granada at least a draw. With 17 points in their last 10 matches Barcelona should be reasonably happy with their performance.
Deportivo Alavés and Barcelona last played eachother at the Camp Nou on Sat Oct 30th. Barcelona and Deportivo Alavés battled to a 1-1 draw in front of just over 37000. Memphis Depay struck first for Barcelona in the 49th minute on a feed from Jordi Alba, then in the 52nd minute, Joselu sent in a beautiful pass which was converted by Luis Rioja earning Deportivo Alavés at least a draw.
For Barcelona, their top scorers are Ferran Jutglà and Luuk de Jong, each having 2 goals in their last five matches. Joselu has been the most prolific scorer on Deportivo Alavés in his last five matches with 2 goals
José Luis Mendilibar Etxebarria’s squad will be without Pere Pons and Ximo Navarro, while Barcelona will be without Sergi Roberto, Ansu Fati, Frenkie de Jong and Pedro Gonzalez Lopez.