Spanish champions Barcelona could be down in third position in the La Liga table by the time that they take to the field against Sporting Gijon on Saturday night.
The Catalan outfit recorded a thumping 8-0 win at Deportivo La Coruna during the week to keep hold of first spot in the table, but title rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid will both play before the leaders on Saturday afternoon.
Sporting, meanwhile, will enter the match down in 18th position, but they are just one point off 17th-placed Granada with four to play in Spain's top flight.
Barcelona
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Crisis? What crisis? Barcelona might have lost three straight league games to allow Atletico and Real Madrid back into the title race, but Luis Enrique's side recorded an 8-0 victory at Deportivo on Wednesday night to ensure that they would enter week 35 top of the table.
The reigning champions only lead second-placed Atletico on the head-to-head record, however, while Real Madrid are a point behind in third. Los Blancos will take on Rayo Vallecano on Saturday afternoon, before Atletico welcome Malaga to the Vicente Calderon.
In all likelihood, Barcelona will have dropped to third by the time kickoff rolls around against Sporting, but another win would see them return to the summit with three games to play in Spain's top flight.
Real Madrid and Atletico both have Champions League semi-finals to think about next week, but Barcelona have a free run at the league and know that four victories would see them retain the Spanish crown despite late pressure from the capital.
Next weekend, Barcelona will travel to Real Betis, before welcoming Espanyol on May 8. Their league campaign will then end away to Granada, before taking on Sevilla in the final of the Copa del Rey at the end of the month. A domestic double might still arrive for Enrique's team, but they will have to do it the hard way in the final weeks.
Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar were all on the scoresheet against Deportivo, however, and the attacking trio will fancy their chances of improving their goal tallies against a struggling Sporting team this weekend.
Barcelona have also been very strong at Camp Nou this season - winning 14 of their 17 league games on home soil. They lost their last home league match to Valencia, but it would be a big surprise if Enrique's side did not collect all the points this time around.
Recent form: WDLLLW
Recent form (all competitions): LWLLLW
Sporting Gijon
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Sporting finished second in the Segunda Division last season to advance into the top flight, but the Red and Whites are facing the possibility of returning to the second tier as they prepare to battle for their position in the final weeks of the campaign.
As it stands, Abelardo Fernandez's team occupy 18th position in La Liga, having collected just 32 points from their 34 league games this term. It is far from an ideal situation at this stage of the season, but they are just one point off 17th-placed Granada and indeed just three behind Rayo Vallecano, who face Real Madrid this weekend.
Sporting might have only won two of their last 13 in the league, but those two victories came against Atletico and Sevilla. Indeed, a 2-1 home win over Sevilla on Wednesday night boosted their hopes of escaping the bottom three with four games left.
In terms of what is ahead, Sporting will welcome Eibar next Friday, before travelling to Getafe on May 8. Their season will then end at home to Villarreal and victories in two of their final four fixtures should be enough to see them survive in the top flight.
Sporting have only won three of their 17 away league games this season, however, and only managed 11 goals on their travels, which is the lowest in the league. In all likelihood, whether they can survive is not going to depend on their result this weekend, rather how they get on against Eibar and Getafe in their next two.
Recent form: LWDLDW
Team News
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Gerard Pique is available for Barcelona after serving a one-game suspension during the week and the Spanish international is expected to return to the heart of the defence.
Sergi Roberto and Rafinha both came off the bench against Deportivo and are pushing for starts, but it seems likely that Enrique will continue with Dani Alves at right-back and Ivan Rakitic in midfield alongside Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta.
Meanwhile, Suarez, whose four goals against Deportivo took him onto 30 for the season in La Liga, will continue in the final third alongside Messi and Neymar.
As for Sporting, head coach Abelardo has no fresh injury concerns from the win over Sevilla.
On-loan Barcelona midfielder Alen Halilovic is expected to face his parent club, while Antonio Sanabria, who is on loan from Roma, will look to add to his 11 league goals for the season at Camp Nou.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Bravo; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic; Neymar, Suarez, Messi
Sporting Gijon possible starting lineup:
Pichu; Lopez, Mere, Hernandez, Lora; Cases, Alvarez; Jony, Halilovic, Carmona; Sanabria
Head To Head
Messi scored twice as Barcelona recorded a 3-1 victory in the reverse league match at Sporting earlier this season.
The two teams have not met at Camp Nou in the league since March 2012, when Barcelona were again 3-1 winners over the Red and Whites.
Despite Barcelona winning four of the last five meetings between the pair, the Catalan outfit have only managed to score more than once on two occasions.
We say: Barcelona 4-0 Sporting Gijon
Barcelona have wobbled in recent weeks, but they got their campaign back on track against Deportivo during the week and it would be a major surprise if they did not make it back-to-back wins this weekend. Sporting are also in need of the points, but we are backing Barcelona to end the weekend top of the pile once again.
Matt Law
