Will Barça redeem themselves against Granada?

Can FC Barcelona redeem themselves for their bitter 3-0 defeat to FC Bayern München in the Champions League? The Catalans welcome Granada to their Camp Nou home on Monday evening – a win would certainly do the battered Catalan soul good after Tuesday’s defeat to Bayern.

Whether that will happen remains to be seen, of course – but at least the betting companies are in good spirits. Barça are the clear favourites on Monday evening at 9pm, as the odds show for Barcelona vs Granada.

The Bayern defeat does not really affect these, the offers on Barça in the three-way are not really lucrative. Those who place their bets on a home win for Barcelona vs. Granada only get a 1.29 on average.

In view of the performance against the Munich team, an easy home win is not even necessarily a safe bet. Nor for another reason: in Barça’s last home game against Granada – some will remember – the Andalusians caused a big surprise and won at the Camp Nou, dealing the Blaugrana a severe blow in last year’s La Liga title fight from which they never recovered.

Barça could therefore be doubly motivated – at the same time, one should not necessarily expect the home side to take the game by storm. Either way, you can look forward to Barcelona with great anticipation.

Spain Barcelona – Statistics & current form

What is the state of mind of FC Barcelona after the terrible 0:3 against FC Bayern Munich – that is the big question before the duel with Granada. Is Barça still feeling the effects of this disgrace, is it still in the minds of the players, or will there be an act of defiance against the guests from Andalusia?

The bookmakers expect the latter, at least if you look at the betting odds for Barcelona against Granada. Barça are the heavy favourites. Of course, you can expect a different game against Granada than against Bayern, the dominance in this game will most likely come from the home side again and not from the high pressing and strong guests as during the week.

Question marks for Barcelona against Granada

And yet there are some question marks at Barça, which is why one should be rather cautious with a prediction that is too euphoric about Barcelona against Granada. Also because handicap bets of -1 on Barça with offers of 1.80 are not even really interesting.

When the team of coach Ronald Koeman receives FC Granada, the personnel situation at Barça before Barcelona against Granada also makes it difficult to bet on an emphatic victory for the home side. Ansu Fati, Ousmane Dembélé and Sergio Agüero have already been out for a while, and after the Bayern game, regular players Pedri and Jordi Alba were also affected during the week (both with muscle injuries).

So Barça’s squad is thin, the starting eleven practically makes itself up. In attack, of course, Koeman has enormous worry lines. Newcomer Luuk de Jong was a lost cause in his debut for Barcelona against Bayern Munich, but he is likely to start again against Granada due to a lack of alternatives. Philippe Coutinho could also make his first appearance in nine months.

Predicted line-up of Barcelona:
Ter Stegen – Dest, Araujo, Piqué, Balde – Busquets, F. De Jong, Gavi – Coutinho, L. De Jong, Depay

Last matches played by Barcelona:

Spain Granada – Statistics & current form

So Barcelona won’t be brimming with confidence on Monday night, but the same goes for the visitors from Granada. The Andalusians are still waiting for their first win of the season. New coach Robert Moreno’s team has only two defeats and two draws to its credit so far, and with two points they are in 17th place.

Not exactly a perfect start for Moreno at his new club, which means that the pressure on the ex-Monaco coach is slowly increasing. While the start was still passable with two draws at Villarreal (0-0) and against Valencia (1-1), the nasty 4-0 defeat at promoted Rayo Vallecano on matchday 3 did not cast a good light on Granada.

Granada still waiting for first win of the season in La Liga

There was no positive reaction on matchday 4, even if they were close: Until the 89th minute, the score was still 1-1 at home against Betis, then the Verdiblancos scored the much-celebrated 2-1 winner, the next blow for Granada.

So the guest game at Camp Nou doesn’t necessarily come at the best time – or maybe it does? After all, Granada has nothing to lose on Monday, and traditionally not much is expected from away teams at Camp Nou.

It was precisely this situation that led to Granada’s big coup a few months ago, when they surprisingly triumphed 2-1 at Barcelona on matchday 33 of the 2020/21 season in April. So if you trust the Andalusians to pull off another surprising away win, you’ll find very lucrative odds on Barcelona vs. Granada.

Predicted line-up of Granada:
Maximiano – Arias, Duarte, Sanchez, Neva – Gonalons, Montoro, Monchu – Soro, Machis, Suarez

Last matches played by Granada:

Barcelona – Granada Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

Barcelona struggled twice in a row against Granada last season. In the league, the Blaugrana suffered the aforementioned 1:2 home defeat, while in the Copa del Rey they came through by the skin of their teeth in a spectacular match in the quarter-finals with 5:3 after extra time – after they had been trailing 0:2 and only managed to score the equaliser in the closing seconds and thus to extra time.

Granada also managed to beat the big favourites from Catalonia 2-0 in a league match in September 2019. So in three of the last five meetings, Granada have been able to keep up surprisingly well.

Spain Barcelona – Granada Spain Tip

There is a lot at stake for both teams on Monday: If Granada loses again, the pressure on new coach Robert Moreno will increase. If Barcelona don’t win, the crisis talk will finally start in Catalonia, so the 0:3 against FC Bayern Munich could have a bad effect on the mood at the Blaugrana. A home defeat would also put Ronald Koeman in the firing line.

For Barça, the home game is an absolute must-win, but given the thin squad, the undertaking could be anything but easy.

Especially in the offensive, the Blaugrana are plagued by great worries, which is why we do not expect a clear thing, but “only” a work victory, for example a 2:1, as was the case on matchday 3 at home against Getafe, when Barça struggled and had problems, but ultimately won narrowly.

We expect something similar against Granda, so our prediction for Barcelona vs. Granada is: Barcelona win and both score